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Dear Ones!
In our readings for this weekend, Saint Paul is writing to the community at Philippi. Paul dedicates a whole paragraph to thanking the people who make his ministry possible.
I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
It is worth noting that the work of the gospel is not entirely the work of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. If you hold just the New Testament in your hand, 2/3 of what is written is about people who took the learnings of Jesus of Nazareth, and walked them out in their own lives.
The book of Acts continues the story of the gospel of Luke, telling how the church began to be new after Pentecost. It describes the calling of leaders, it describes the power of the Holy Spirit in working through people who were humble and believed that they could not be meaningful members of the church, but turned out to be transformative.
The subsequent letters of Paul, and the people who followed Paul, describe how these communities confronted difficulties, how they consulted one another and their local leadership, seeking guidance to be sure that they were following in the path that was set for them by their Messiah.
My point here is that being the Christian church in the world is not a passive assignment and it is not done in solitude. Each of us has been blessed by the creator with gifts and graces that we can be using to forward the gospel in our lives and communities. We don’t do this by sitting on the sidelines, or ruminating by ourselves. We do it by: 1) working 2) together.
One of the truly beautiful liberties of being a small diocese made up of primarily small parishes, is that each of us has greater and more diverse opportunities to be in leadership in our congregations. Having visited our congregations, I am at liberty to tell you that we are a multitalented and generously gifted population.
But my ability to see how generously we’ve been blessed, gives me special perspective to say: it’s time to take those gifts and graces and use them to the benefit of the wider church.
Elsewhere, I have described how diocesan council has been reframed. Each member is charged with chairing a committee to forward a specific ministry or goal in our diocese. And those committees are populated by people in our congregations.
This means that serving on diocesan council is at once a more demanding, and also a more rewarding role. It also means that the ministry weighing on your heart, the goal you hold for our diocese, has a place to go to be pursued and enriched.
All of these goals, I should mention, emerged from the period of discernment that preceded my election. When we were thinking hard about who we wanted to be, these were the characteristics we wished to enhance.
Well, now is the time.
Immediately below this letter is a list of the positions that are open in our governance bodies. Put your name forward for consideration for these positions. Come to the four regular council meetings, bring to the table, the gifts and passions that God has placed in you, commit yourself to the ministries and missions of this diocese that sit powerfully in your heart.
This is how the church in the 1st century and in the 21st-century, grows and expands, and becomes more relevant.
I invite you this week to sit in prayer and ask:
- What is going really well in my congregation that I should be sharing with the diocese?
- What has been weighing on my heart as a priority that needs to move forward across our church?
- Whose voice do I believe is not being heard in the leadership of the church?
- Who is doing good work that I might learn from?
- How is God calling me to grow God’s kingdom until God comes again?
Please feel free to reach out to me or Dn. Jessica with questions about how the process works or what kinds of things might be brewing that you need to be a part of.
You remain in my prayers,
+Shay
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