FORTUNA >> A small drawing of Jesus is helping to remind parishioners at St. Francis’ Episcopal Church in Fortuna that Christ is with them not only while they’re in the sanctuary, but also everywhere they go.
“No matter where we are, we are connected in Christ,” said the Rev. Jeri Gray-Reneberg, priest-in-charge at St. Francis’. “Sending a Flat Jesus photo helps us to remember and pray for each other, also. “
The Flat Jesus program — similar to the popular Flat Stanley project — started at St. Francis’ in May 2014 after Gray-Reneberg in a sermon encouraged everyone at the church to, “Take Flat Jesus with you. Wherever you are — if you go on vacation or to a wedding or to the beach — please have someone take a picture of you with Flat Jesus and send it to me … Then, we will know where else Jesus has been this summer with all of you.”
Gray-Reneberg said the purpose of the program — which takes place at churches throughout the nation — is to remember Jesus and stay connected with those who come to the church.
“Many people at St. Francis’ travel over the summer and it was a good way to stay in contact with each other and to see where we are traveling in God’s gorgeous world, as well as to see the other people we love when we travel to see them,” said Gray-Reneberg, who hands out Flat Jesus images during the church announcements for people who would like one.
“On the back, I include my e-mail address so people can e-mail their photos to me and I post them,” she said.
Since the program started, Gray-Reneberg says she has received pictures of Flat Jesus from local spots as well as from around the United States and even a few from other countries. The images are usually posted either on the church’s Facebook page or website.
“One of the first photos was from New Orleans,” Gray-Reneberg said. “We have received them from locations like the Sequoia Park Zoo, a local store, Table Bluff, the Humboldt County Fair, as well as places like Maui, Mazatlan, Seattle, Crater Lake, Los Angeles, Iowa and Nebraska.”
She added: “We have sent them to the congregation when we attend church conventions and the congregation will take one and send it to me in our absence. My husband, Perry, and I hope to take a trip to England for my sabbatical this year, and we will plan to send several then. Recently, we had a visitor from Amman, Jordan, who was with us for six weeks before he returned home. His last request was that we take a Flat Jesus photo with him and the congregation who was present on that day. We will stay in touch via his son, who lives here. We hope to see one from him one of these days.”
Adults and children participate get involved in the Flat Jesus program, she said.
“Kids like sending Flat Jesus photos as well,” Gray-Reneberg said. “Two and a half years ago, after taking several as a family, one of our young members asked his mother, as he contemplated jumping off a swing at Rohner Park, ‘Mom, where’s Flat Jesus?’ It just becomes something we think about when we want to share where we are.”
