Gallery|2010
There are the images used throughout 2010 for A Deacon's Musing. I hope that the visuals chosen speak to the words used in each blog. Just as importantly, I hope they not only complement
Knowing a Prophet!
I was once at a Presbytery meeting in Northeast Saskatchewan and, as is the wont of United Church folk, we were discussing Justice stuff. We like to talk about Justice in UCC circles – in fact it is often one of the glues that bind us. And in that time – I think we were revisiting discussions around uranium and our involvement in the global trade of nuclear technology and its impact on lives and the environment, when someone piped up and said, “Why are prophets so grumpy?” There was a pause and then laughter …
Gallery|2009
There are the images used throughout 2009 for A Deacon's Musing. I hope that the visuals chosen speak to the words used in each blog. Just as importantly, I hope they not only complement
Advent|Do-ers & Be-ers
Advent is here and I have to admit that I am feeling some melancholy. This time last year I was in Israel-Palestine with Christian Peacemaker Teams. It was easy, I am aware of the irony, in that place to be a Do-er and and Be-er at the same time. Each day began and was framed by worship that was grounded in using The Beatitudes as a way in which to experience the Holy in places that were not always easy and in which the temptation for apathy and cynicism was always present. Using our hearing of The Beatitudes made it possible to be fully present as a Do-er!
The Divide
Okay, I have a need to offer confession before proceeding! First of all, I am looking at that crazy calendar that is a life in Accountable Ministry and realise I have two similar Tasks that are pending. Both are sitting in my Outlook Calendar and require me to write something that is reflective and, hopefully, also useful and meaningful.
The Journey
We are all, individually and collectively, on a journey. In our United Church context, we openly name – Confess – the things that separate us from God and one another. We struggle, however, with our own stuff. How do we share our own dysfunction, our own brokenness?
A Proposal
Okay, I admit it; I’m often coming back to community as a theme. In fact, were I to be completely honest, I would say that it is central to my own longing that lies at the centre of my faith. And, if I continue on this trajectory, I guess it is also why I am so invested in the necessity for healthy and effective leadership. The promise of a healthy community depends on the leadership that models it.
Letting Go
I was recently at a meeting and it was, as has been the case over the last two years, a meeting in which there was a lot of energy. This particular group of men and women have been meeting to review where the congregation has been, discussing where it currently is, and imaging where the Spirit might be guiding. In times of such intentional reflection there is always richness. This group, as with most that engage with leadership, modelled self-challenge, as well as comfort in listening to ideas that were either new or difficult. I suspect that many who are in leadership, either Ordered or Lay, have been in this place. And, as my own experience has evidenced, there are moments of profound insight, perhaps even revelation …
Choices
In my last Blog, Oh, the Temptation ..., I ended it with the following observation: “In the end, while mumbling below my breath, it all revolves around choice and to my frustration, I do not remember Jesus ever pushing someone through a door, merely pointing out that there were and are many doors on the journey of our lives...”
Lent|Opt-In or Out?
So there I was at a meeting of the one of the levels of the Court of the United Church of Canada (there are four fwiiw: Pastoral Charge, Presbytery; Conference; and General Council). These Courts are not intended to be hierarchal, in fact when they work well; it lives out a way of being – of governance – that operates from the bottom -> up.