A Baptist Minister, A Methodist Minister and a Church of England Vicar went fishing one day.

They patiently sat on the riverbank waiting for a bite. After a few hours the Baptist Minister stood up and said, ‘I don’t think we’ll get anywhere here so I’m going to cross the river and try upstream’. The Church of England Vicar pointed out that the nearest bridge was three miles away. ‘No problem’ said the Baptist who knelt down, prayed for a few seconds and then walked across the water.

The Methodist Minister started to pack away his fishing rod and shouted to the Baptist to wait for him. He knelt down and said a quick prayer and walked across the river to join the Baptist. The Church of England Vicar thought to himself, ‘If they can do that so can I’. ‘Wait for me!’ he shouted, ‘there’s no point in me staying here on my own’. The Vicar knelt down and said a prayer, stood up and walked to the riverbank, took one step out into the river then vanished beneath the surface.

On the other side the Baptist turned to the Methodist and said ‘Do you think we should have told him about the stepping stones?’

How well do we work together with other churches and other Christians in our community? How much do we relate to other Christians in the area as we seek to proclaim the good news of the gospel and to demonstrate God’s overwhelming love? Can we work better and more effectively together than apart?