On the question of what is the justification for a kitchen. . .

The problem originates from our attitude towards the contribution. We say we are commanded to give and then once given the funds are considered a special category separate from other monies. Neither of which is correct nor can support for such beliefs be found in the Bible.

The Church of Christ habitually calls what we do on Sundays and Wednesdays worship. We have even identified five acts of worship: praying, singing, preaching, giving, and the Lord's Supper.

Considering these items to be worship confuses people. Worship would be directed towards God. Praying for ourselves, singing to each other, giving to ourselves for our comfort, listening to preaching while edifying are hardly worship. We hold memorials all the time for our deceased friends and do not consider that worship so considering the Lord's Supper worship is a stretch. Our giving on Sunday is not worship it is convenience.

We know God's will he wants everyone to be saved. He does not care if we have a building with or without a kitchen. To consider the weekly contribution the same as the collection Paul talked about to the Christians in Corinth is out of context. That collection was so there would be no need to gather the funds at the last minute AND the funds were to be used to help poor people, people who needed financial help. Our collection is so we can spend it primarily on ourselves. I know we give $4,800 to Irma and $4,800 to Michael and maybe $10,000-$15,000 to people who need financial help and a measured amount of what we pay Al benefits others but the majority is on us for our comfort and our convenience. If the visitors did not create an overcrowded situation we would not have built a building. There is nothing inherently wrong with that other than our deceiving ourselves.

Members of any organization have a responsibility to support the activities of that organization. But it is optional. With Jesus and the apostles as examples helping the poor is not optional.

It is too late to change anyone's mind about the sinfulness of having a kitchen in The Church so we will just have to live with being ostracized by some.

And that is what I would say if someone were to ask me that question.