Last week, I spent four days near Caroline, Alberta, at a retreat with ministry personnel from Chinook Winds Region. Our beautiful altar (picture above) took shape and grew as the week went by, including stones, water, and an ever increasing number of plants! It was moving how life continued to emerge over our time together.
The setting was truly beautiful, the food was delicious, and the hospitality was generous. The learning was useful too, focusing on the impact of clergy burnout, and encouraging practices for flourishing in ministry, and in life.
But what filled my heart the most, were two practices.
The first was the practice of singing. We sang a lot together: old favourite hymns, new Christian songs that gave fresh voice to the old story, and classical pop songs that resonated with the themes of our times together. One evening, we sang to each person, the hymn or song that most expressed the essence of their call to ministry, with much laughter and some tears. Singing together, I was reminded again of the many physical, spiritual, social, emotional and psychological benefits that singing in a group brings.
The second practice was the practice of play. During our time together, there was walking and snowshoeing, and lively conversation. One evening, there was a competitive billiards tournament, a group game involving recognizing popular music (I think!), people chatting over a puzzle, and some spirited karaoke. To hear the sounds of laughter, to see new friendships being formed and old ones being strengthened, was so beautiful.
I suspect both these practices are among the things people miss when they say they miss presbytery. Certainly, the church restructure, with the COVID epidemic hot on its heels, have increased a sense of loneliness and isolation in ministry personnel.
And yet we know - we know - that relationship is what gives us life: relationship with God in Jesus Christ, with the earth, with one another, and with our deepest selves, is not optional, but vital to flourishing in ministry, and in life.
After all, we are made in God's image, the God we know and experience as One and also Three. We are created in the image of a God who is Godself, relationship, and so we should not be surprised that it is in healthy relationships that human beings flourish.
I don't know about you. But I have been spiraling in anxiety about the state of, well, everything: the seeming collapse of American democracy, an impending trade war and its effects on the economy, the Canadian dollar, federal politics, the state of the church, and a few personal worries as well.
A low level of anxiety is usually my native habitat, but for the past few weeks I've found myself catastrophizing. I know others have felt boiling rage, while others find themselves bursting into tears.
What calmed my anxious stewing, and turned me toward hope again, was being in community, with other followers of Jesus, and leaders of his church. I left feeling heartened, hopeful, and encouraged (and yes, also with a flu virus!) about the future of our church, our regions, our country and even our world.
Wherever you are on the anxiety to catastrophizing scale, I hope you'll be intentional about looking for opportunities for community with those who share the journey!
Advent Longing...
I just wrote a whole long reflection on Advent waiting and longing... and then deleted it... 'cause who has time to read that, on the cusp of Advent??
(TL;DR: Jesus is coming, no matter how prepared we are, or not. No matter how perfect our worship, our advent wreath candle lighting liturgies, or our advent studies. Jesus is coming, which is good news, because we always need Jesus, and now more than ever. So let's embrace the longing, the waiting, the anticipation, trusting in the One for whom we wait. Amen!)
I do want to give you the heads-up on some upcoming events, so read on..
Advent Longing: a Free Advent Small Group Study, for Pacific Mountain and Chinook Winds Regional Councils
As a gift for you in your leadership during this season, LeaderShift has purchased a regional license for The Prayer Bench's Advent Small Group Study. This 3 session study invites us to nurture longing as a powerful spiritual gift through an imaginative pilgrimage in an old-growth forest. It encourages us to notice longing in our ordinary days, recognize its gifts during times of desolation and reclamation, and welcome “thin spaces”—those moments of connection, support, and hope. In the context of a planetary crisis, we explore how to activate Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love in the world God loves. To receive the link to the free resource, email me here: MSlater@united-church.ca.
Chinook Winds Region Ministry Personnel Retreat - hosted by LeaderShift and Chinook Winds Regional Council
Escape the winter chill and join your colleagues for a rejuvenating experience that will reconnect you with God, your calling, the earth, and your truest self. Come and be refreshed and empowered, and leave with a personalized plan for your own flourishing and well-being in ministry. Register here:
Chinook Winds Ministry Personnel Retreat 2025 | Event Registration | Chinook Winds & Pacific Mountain Regions UCCan Store
A Weekend Retreat for Boards/Councils & Their Ministry Personnel - April 4-6, 2025, in Kelowna BC
Join Pacific Mountain Regional Ministers for workshops on recruitment, emerging models of congregational governance, best practices, Manual roles and responsibilities and more. Come gain some knowledge and skills, build relationships with other lay leaders, and reconnect to why you care about and give your time, energy and commitment to your community of faith! More information here: Spring Weekend Retreat for Church Boards, Councils and Their Ministry Personnel — LeaderSHIFT UCCan
Blessings in the waiting!
Michelle
Supporting the Saints
Friday, November 1, 2024
Greetings on this All Saints Day, as we remember with gratitude, the saints of the past, our ancestors in the faith.
It is almost like a “family reunion” of the church, when we call to mind, and somehow mysteriously to our very presence, all those who have gone before us, who have shown us through their living and sometimes, in their dying, how God was present in them and in the world.
Today, I am remembering and giving thanks for many who mentored me, inspired me, cared for me, and led me, in the United Church and beyond. I marvel at the ways God's Spirit is able to work in and through us, ordinary and imperfect human beings, to bring God close to us, and us close to God.
I am also remembering with gratitude the ways you, a leader in your community of faith, allow God's light to shine through you!
LeaderShift has been busy dreaming up some ways to support all the saints, in our call to leadership in our congregations, communities and the world. Check them out, and be in touch for more information!
1. Living Generously: A Stewardship Webinar - Session Four: Advent of Generosity, Tuesday, November 12, 1pm PT/2pm MT. Free, online only via Zoom.
This 60-minute session for church leaders--both clergy and lay--will talk about different ways that we can bring conversations of stewardship into Advent, Christmas Eve, and beyond. Through hospitality, welcome and invitation, let’s help make this Advent the beginning of a church year full of deeper generosity.
For more information, and to register: Session 4 ~ Advent of Generosity: Inviting giving and participation during Advent | Event Registration | Chinook Winds & Pacific Mountain Regions UCCan Store
2. Daylong Retreat for Boards/Councils and their Ministry Personnel, Saturday, November 16th, 9 am to 5 pm, at the PMRC Regional Office in Burnaby. Free, lunch included, registration required, in person only.
Join Pacific Mountain Regional Ministers for workshops on recruitment, emerging models of congregational governance, best practices, Manual roles and responsibilities and more. Come gain some knowledge and skills, build relationships with other lay leaders, and reconnect to why you care about and give your time, energy and commitment to your community of faith!
More info and registration here: A Day-Long Retreat for Boards, Councils and their Ministry Personnel — LeaderSHIFT UCCan
3. Chinook Winds Region Ministry Personnel Retreat, February 9-12, 2025, at Sanctum Retreat Centre near Caroline, AB. In person only.
Escape the winter chill and join your colleagues for a rejuvenating experience that will reconnect you with God, your calling, the earth, and your truest self. Come and be refreshed and empowered, and leave with a personalized plan for your own flourishing and well-being in ministry.
More information and registration, here: Chinook Winds Ministry Personnel Retreat — LeaderSHIFT UCCan
4. Weekend Retreat for Boards/Councils and their Ministry Personnel, April 4-6, 2025 in Kelowna, BC. Free, registration required.
Join Pacific Mountain Regional Ministers for workshops on recruitment, emerging models of congregational governance, best practices, Manual roles and responsibilities and more. Come gain some knowledge and skills, build relationships with other lay leaders, and reconnect to why you care about and give your time, energy and commitment to your community of faith!
For more information and to register: Spring Weekend Retreat for Church Boards, Councils and Their Ministry Personnel — LeaderSHIFT UCCan
May today be a day of rich remembering and gratitude for you, as you celebrate all the saints who have blessed you!
Michelle
