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!