Communion Meditation from Rev. Aurelia Dávila Pratt
(This is a Communion Meditation from Rev. Aurelia Dávila Pratt originally shared on June 18th, 2018 at her Installation Service as Lead Pastor of Peace of Christ Church. It was shared in part in her last Sermon as Lead Pastor on May 11th, 2025.)
You guys, I need you to know I didn’t plan for this. I did not plan to be a lead pastor here or anywhere. I didn’t even plan to be a PASTOR. Or a preacher, or if I’m honest to touch Church work with a ten foot pole.
10 years ago, we moved to Texas (specifically Waco) so that I could go to seminary and while at seminary, also begin work on my master of social work. I didn’t really know what I intended to do with these two degrees. I just knew that I wanted to be “a person of God in this world,” and I knew I wanted to help people somehow and I figured these two degrees covered most of my ground.
So, Lyle and I made the move, and for four years when people would ask me what I planned on doing after school, I would say pretty much the same thing: “I’m not sure,” and then to sound like I’d at least given it some thought, I’d follow up with: “but it’s not gonna be in the Church.”
I had over the years become deeply suspicious of the Church, or at least church leaders, church staff. I had observed misuse of power that put an ugly taste in my mouth, and I didn’t want to be a part of that and I didn’t want the beauty I DID see in Church to be tainted. So my plan was to keep away. To work outside of the Church and just go to Church as I had always done. I had always been involved in ministry, and it had never been in the Church, so why start now?
Then, as most of you know, I not only began working in this church in 2012, but I started it – along with Kyle and Kaily, Lyle and quite a few families, some still here today. All of this happened through an amazing turn of events. It has proven to me yet again that I can’t plan the good God has in store for me. I am incapable of fully imagining it. This church has been proof of that for me because this church has been the joy of my life. It has been the most unexpected surprise. Peace of Christ Church has renewed my hope. It has refreshed my soul. It has provided me with growth. It has again and again, been a place of empowerment. And best of all, it has given me access to the most beautiful church community I have ever experienced.
As a pastor here, my goal is to extend this invitation of beauty and goodness to everyone who interacts with us. To let everyone know they are welcome here, in this community, just as they are. My goal has been and continues to be to create a safe space for people to restore their hope in the Church and to know communion with God intimately, as well as to question, wrestle and evolve without fear of judgment or rejection. This has been my vision for our church, and I will continue to fiercely protect and spearhead that vision as I step into this role of Lead Pastor.
A little over a month ago, on the Monday morning of my first day on the job, the day after Kyle and Kaily’s goodbye service, I woke up at 5 am and had a vividly spiritual experience. The best way I can describe it is, I felt the weight of the church on my shoulders. It felt like this metaphorical torch had been passed in the night and now, in the light of the dawn I carried this new weight, and it absolutely overwhelmed me. So I got up, and I got to work. I knew that I would get used to this new weight, and that it would just take some time. Kind of like when you are lifting weights – you are sore the first few days, but your body gets used to it, and you become stronger and able to take on heavier loads.
As a pastor here, and I’m going to be bold and speak for all of us: there is not a day where we aren’t thinking about this Church and how to make Peace MORE: more creative, more safe, more diverse, more inclusive, more bold, more loving, more giving, more like Jesus. There’s really nothing I think about more than this place and these people. And YOU are our people, our family, and no matter where we meet (spacewise), we are each other’s beloved community. And Matt and Fran and myself - never stop thinking about how to do well for you. It’s our job. Our promise to our people. And there is a lofty weight to that. And there is a lofty weight to leading the vision that we (all together) speak into being.
But we are a team and always have been, and I think it’s why I’ve never known real burnout here. We try really, really hard to protect one another from it, whether staff, leadership, volunteer – no matter the role you play in creating with us, we share the load and we prioritize rest and care and simplicity. So all this to say: I’m so blessed to be here. I’m blessed for you to have me, and to trust me to lead and pastor authentically. And I can’t think of a better time to celebrate this than right now in this moment of communion. This moment of corporate ritual in which we remember our purpose for being here in Jesus, and when we proclaim this purpose together as one body through bread and cup.
This is our time to celebrate and to remind each other that ALL are welcome here. ALL are welcome no matter what. You are welcome. So join me in the communion liturgy which you can find in your guide.