Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada

I have been out of touch for the last few weeks as I have tried to make sense of my new congregational ministry situation. I am challenged: challenged not only by the task of remembering myriad names and faces but also by the daunting undertaking of identifying the story that is this people and discerning what part I play in its future unfolding.

The confusion comes from an acute awareness that the story line is complicated and, not only am I not getting the whole plot, I am not sure it`s helpful to know it. Some people have moved to the edge and out; some are creeping back in a cautious attempt to try again; others have jumped in the deep end planning and beginning to write a new (or maybe it`s an old) story line. Overwhelmingly though the majority are not talking directly to me. They mostly listen.

We proclaim our connection to the God of the past – the God of Abraham and Sarah, of Mary and Jesus, of Paul and Lydia, to the God of the present – who actively participates in the world and in our lives – and the God of the future who “is and ever shall be world without end.”

We know the nature of God through divine activity in time. Our Bible so often carefully lays out time – "In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria." 

Time is a gift from God that is subject to the same criteria as other gifts – recognition, respect, stewardship.

I am about to embark upon a new ministry next week. A congregation that has been experiencing conflict, trauma, grief and fragmentation now has no minister. My task is to lead worship, nurture a sense of peace and provide pastoral care to the community while they wait for a qualified interim minister to become available. I wonder how to enter this community with openness to the Spirit at work and without a naivety that all is a bed of roses.

This seems like Emerging Spirit work on a very personal level. What will it take to welcome members of the congregation into my life? It bears a close resemblance to the congregational work of hospitality where we are called upon to be bearers of a holy welcome to all who come through the door, regardless of their ability to throw wrenches in our well-oiled congregational machine.