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
