“Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things…”
Philippians 4:8

And friends, there are true things,
    and worthy things,
        just and commendable things,
            and excellent things
        emerging
        from the heart of the ministry and leadership that is happening in these days.  

Dear One

The continuing rupture in our patterns of being and believing allows us a chance to voice the lament, and also to turn our gaze and minds to the surprise of what is actually good, true, pleasing. It allows some very good questions to guide our next chapter of discovery. One colleague recently identified that the focus has shifted from “How are we going to do this?!!" and "What’s going to happen tomorrow and next week…”, to “I wonder what faithful ministry could really look like for us in the coming year?”. What an excellent inquiry for a community of faith to hold.

At LeaderShift, we continue to pay attention to the places where online engagement is rewarding - where skills, spiritual practice, and theological reflection are deepening. Because of some of the beautiful and good experiences arising from recent programs, we are excited to repeat three online engagement sessions from LeaderShift partnerships.

Faith Leaders for Such a Time as This with Janet Gear and Rev Brian Thorpe is on the calendar again beginning June 16th. This is a chance to go deep into the questions of the moment, both theologically and personally. Register here now.

In the future, watch for the Stewardship Buzz – a hands on learning for small teams within a community of faith, and Nourishing the Soul of the Preacher – a small group geared towards the unique context of rural and remote ministry personnel to help you develop practices that build collegiality in the face of isolation, and find spiritual practices that support grounded worship leadership.

In the meantime, I want to share with you the outstanding work of our colleague, Blair Galston PMRC Archivist and his support of the Vancouver Japanese United Church community as they created and launched their website, www.vjucarchives.ca Enduring Faith. It's an excellent place of image and story that connects us more deeply to our shared history.

And I want to recommend the excellent work of the PMR First Third Ministry Network and their encouragement to equip ourselves for leadership with children, youth and families. Their upcoming series called the Spirituality of Play still has a few spaces left. You can register here: www.pmrfirstthirdresources.ca. What a worthwhile invitation to engage creativity at a time when imagination may be limited by the video-conference squares on your monitor!

So, as you rest this weekend and prepare for the coming week, may your conversations, prayers, writings and reflections hold lament and praise in tension – and may this tension allow Spirit to forward compassion and creativity in your leadership, as you serve your community.

Faithfully,
Allison Rennie
LeaderShift Director