Known and Unknown

Welcome to September! I hope you are entering this fall with energy, creativity, and a deep sense of being accompanied, by the God who is always faithful.

Last week I was blessed to take part in the "Known and Unknown: Leadership in a Liminal Time" conference, hosted by Vancouver School of Theology.

The word "liminal" refers to the boundary, or the threshold, of something new. That state or space of being in-between what was and what will or may be, with all the discomfort that can hold. 

Yet as uncomfortable as liminal space and time can be, it can also be rich with possibility. The time and state of ambiguity offers an invitation for reflection, prayer, attention, and intention - if we can resist the compulsion to rush through to the other side.

What is known at the beginning of this church year? We know we're in year C of the Revised Common Lectionary (or Year 4 - John, if you're using the Narrative Lectionary). We know the high holy days on our liturgical and national calendar: Orange Shirt Day, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Sunday, Advent and Christmas, and beyond. We know the dates of Board/Council meetings, Bible Study, and choir practice.

And what is unknown? An awful lot more, it seems. Whether it's the future of our earth's climate, Canadian or American politics, or the economy (tariffs!). Or the future of our communities of faith, and the United Church of Canada as a whole. There is so much that is unknown, that the meagre details of what we do know, don't seem to make much of an impact.

One of the conference's keynote speakers, Dr Sarah Drummond of Andover Newton Seminary/Yale Divinity School, drew upon a scene from the recent Marvel movie, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, to explore liminality.

(Spoiler ahead!) At one point in the film, the Four are in a spacecraft, and a heavily pregnant Sue Storm (played by Vanessa Kirby) goes into labour. However, since they are in space, there is zero gravity, so Sue has nothing to push against, in her contractions. So her husband Reed Richards (played by Pedro Pascal), uses straps to tether her to her seat, so she can labour effectively.

Sarah Drummond suggests that the work of leadership in a liminal time, might just feel like giving birth in zero-gravity - free floating in the unknown, without anything to push against, or pull toward.

What can tether us, as church leaders, and as followers of Jesus Christ, in this time, where so much is unknown? What can we strap ourselves to, as we "labour unto glory, until God's kingdom comes"?

The answer is the one BIG thing we know, that big and deep and beautiful and wise and challenging and comforting thing - and that is the gospel. The good news that the world as it is, is not how God would have it be. That Christ is risen, and gives us life that is worth living, in the here and now. That Creator is still creating, and inviting us to take part. "How firm a foundation", indeed!

If you are a leader, looking for ways to be more strongly tethered to the gospel, and to the beloved community of other leaders, do I have some opportunities for you…Calendar — LeaderSHIFT UCCan

Faithfully,

Michelle

Welcome to the Ordinary & Save the Dates...

Friday, June 20, 2025

Welcome to Ordinary Time!

You did it! WOOHOO! You've made it through this church year... all the way from fall "start-up"...through Advent and Christmas... Lent and Easter... Pentecost and Trinity Sunday. 

You've made it to "Ordinary Time", from the word ordinal,  as in “ordinal numbers”, which tell the rank or position of something (first, second, third, etc). The Sundays after the celebration of Epiphany and Pentecost are called “the [first, second, third, etc] Sunday after Epiphany/Pentecost, so the season is called “Ordinary Time”. 

And it does feel ordinary, doesn’t it? After a busy year, filled with lots of special church services, seasons and events, it feels like “ordinary time” in the other sense of the word: normal with no special or distinctive features. 

Sometimes, ordinary is the BEST.THING.EVER.

After all, life is often ordinary. We get up, make our tea or coffee, do what needs to be done for the day, return home, rest, and do it all again. Ordinary time, ordinary days, ordinary moments, bring the big moments of our life together into a whole.

Jesus did some of his most amazing teaching while doing quite ordinary things, like eating, walking, even spitting. Jesus’ ministry was actually quite ordinary as he was with people, day in and day out. The extraordinary events of Holy Week and Easter gave new meaning to the ordinary - for Jesus and for us.  

The Christian year moves us forward and around in the mystery of our ordinary lives. Our lives change for better and for worse; we encounter grief and joy, challenges and accomplishments; exciting and boring things happen. Sacred seasons come and go, and will come again.

Our lives will be different, maybe in small ways, maybe in significant ways, when we reach our next special season, Advent, when we prepare again for the mystery of Christmas. Until then, in these ordinary days, Jesus accompanies us on our journeys of faith. Some moments will be extraordinary, and many will be ordinary.  God will be with us, journeying with us through them all. Day in and day out. 

Thanks be to God! 

Save These Dates... (webpages, registration and fees are all being developed, more info soon!)

Leading Together: A Conference for Lay Leaders and Ministry Personnel, September 19-20, 2025, in Victoria, BC AND October 17-19, 2025 in Calgary, AB!

Ministry Personnel Retreat (Pacific Mountain Region), September 29 - October 2, 2025 in Naramata, BC

Ministry Personnel Retreat (Chinook Winds Region), February 2-5, 2026 at Sanctum Retreat Centre, Caroline, AB

Decolonization is a Community Act: for church leaders and youth/young adults, March 16-19, 2026, Camp Fircom, Gambier Island, BC

Festival of Faith North, April 17-19, 2026 in Prince George, BC

Hope to connect with you soon…

Michelle

The Lentiest Lent

Do you remember Lent 2020, at the beginning of the COVID pandemic shutdown? We joked that it was "the Lentiest Lent ever". We had no idea of just how much more Lenty Lent could get...

Maybe you're feeling like me: overwhelmed, anxious (okay downright terrified), paralyzed, powerless, wondering where to find hope.

If you are, then maybe Lent really is the right season for us right now, after all.

I preached on the Transfiguration last Sunday, and I noticed for the first time, that the transfiguration of Jesus itself, is actually not the climax of the story! The climax, as far as I can tell, when Elijah and Moses leave, and the cloud descends, and the disciples are terrified. 

Then, the Voice says, "This is my Beloved, my Chosen. Listen to him!"

God's voice and power, promise and presence, are made known not only in the brilliance, in the glowing, in the radiance. But also, just as crucially, in the middle of the cloud, in the moment of terror and confusion.

We know we are in for a rough ride, politically, economically, ecologically. The clouds are looming over us, and the rest of creation.

And, it turns out, that is exactly where God speaks to us, to reassure us, and to call us, to listen to Jesus.

Yesterday I woke up anxious, scrolled the news feed, raced to the office, and immediately had a chocolate emergency. I hustled to my local indie coffee shop down the street before my first Zoom meeting, stepping in dog poop on the way, and blurted out ALL of that to the barista behind the counter.

They took a deep breath, looked so kindly at me, and said, "You know, all of that (waving hands around), is not in your control, right? What is in your control? Your family, your friends, your neighbourhood, your community, your actions." Then they went on to invite me to a training they were holding the next day on civil disobedience. 

This beautiful person really was the voice of God for me yesterday, when I was spiralling, and I left not only with my London Fog and pain au chocolat, but with a renewed sense of hope, community and trust that I was not alone in all of this. 

I pray that this Lent, God will make themself known to you too, in large and small ways. I pray that you will be opened to the presence of God, in the moments of brilliance, and in the cloud of tumult, anxiety, and distress. And, I pray that we may be channels of God's voice and presence to one another, when we are feeling overwhelmed.

Knowing you may be embarking on book studies, discussion groups, special liturgy, and more for this Lenten season, you are in my prayers – for strength, sustenance, and deep peace, on the road to Jerusalem.

Deep blessings in this hard, holy, life-giving season ahead, 

Michelle