I am spending the week with United Church of Christ colleagues in San Antonio. It has been a rich and fruitful time as we talk together about the church and the nature and purpose of authorized ministry. Committees on Ministry do such important work--discerning gifts and assisting in the formation of our clergy, living in that tension between extending support and exercising oversight, saying "yes" and saying "no." The church is always changing. God gives us minds as well as hearts, so that we may reason together and think critically about where we are and where God is calling us to go. I am glad to be here and a partner in this circle.
Most mornings I have been going outside early in San Antonio to take a walk and to pray. As I walk, I think about churches--local churches--in places like Tamworth and Temple, Hillsborough and Haverhill, Milton and Madbury, Winchester, Westmoreland, Wolfeboro--and many others too. I think of pastors--faithful servants of the gospel, who have responded to Jesus' call to be set apart for service, for preaching and teaching, for administering the sacraments, for pointing others to the grace and glory of God. My prayer is that pastors will love their churches and that churches will love their pastors. I pray that they will mutually engage in building up one another, that they will respect and honor each other, and especially, that they will continue together to listen for the voice of Jesus and be stirred by the Holy Spirit to change the world. We have such important work to do. The world needs the church to be light and salt, a beacon of hope. The world needs the church to break down the walls that divide and destroy God's children. The world needs the church to sing an old song: Miriam's song (Exodus 15:21), Hannah's song (1 Samuel 2:2ff.), Mary's song (Luke 1:46ff.). The world needs the church to witness for justice and to work for peace.
It's time for another walk in the park. Where will you walk today? What is your prayer as you walk?
Most mornings I have been going outside early in San Antonio to take a walk and to pray. As I walk, I think about churches--local churches--in places like Tamworth and Temple, Hillsborough and Haverhill, Milton and Madbury, Winchester, Westmoreland, Wolfeboro--and many others too. I think of pastors--faithful servants of the gospel, who have responded to Jesus' call to be set apart for service, for preaching and teaching, for administering the sacraments, for pointing others to the grace and glory of God. My prayer is that pastors will love their churches and that churches will love their pastors. I pray that they will mutually engage in building up one another, that they will respect and honor each other, and especially, that they will continue together to listen for the voice of Jesus and be stirred by the Holy Spirit to change the world. We have such important work to do. The world needs the church to be light and salt, a beacon of hope. The world needs the church to break down the walls that divide and destroy God's children. The world needs the church to sing an old song: Miriam's song (Exodus 15:21), Hannah's song (1 Samuel 2:2ff.), Mary's song (Luke 1:46ff.). The world needs the church to witness for justice and to work for peace.
It's time for another walk in the park. Where will you walk today? What is your prayer as you walk?
Thank you for thinking of us.
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