Your Full Ministry

On my mind, this passage from this upcoming Sunday's lectionary:

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully. (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

It's the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul and the lessons are all about pastoral leadership. Appropriate, perhaps, that I just attended a (Momentum) workshop about church leadership. One of the interesting things that Judy pointed out there was that conflict is absolutely necessary for church leadership, and that one should actually "mine" for conflict. Conflict is where the growing edges and creativity are. So one important metric of group effectiveness is its capacity to tolerate the anxiety produced by conflict. I think a lot of clergy get themselves into trouble by avoiding and then occasionally reacting to conflict.

This is a pretty obvious observation is make. Most people will tell you this. But taking to the next level--application--is much trickier. The proverb I hear a lot in church leadership circles is "you have pick which ditches to die in." Meaning that while conflict is good, it takes resources to engage and you can't do it all (at least, not simultaneously). Perhaps this is why Paul says we need to have "patience in teaching." Anybody who has taught anyone anything knows something about that.

So for me "Full Ministry" has something to do with that active and awkward-making moment when you, the priest, choose a path that makes people a bit uncomfortable. The alternative, making everyone happy, is neither holy nor really possible. Comfortable is for the easy chair you use to watch football and nap on Sunday afternoon. We are called to intentionally make ourselves uncomfortable!

-t

Meditation as the Craft of Thought

Deirdra Good (NT prof. at General Theological Seminary in NYC) points out this interesting book on her blog:

This astonishing book was the subject of one of our workshops: Mary Carruthers, The Craft of Thought. Meditation, Rhetoric, and the Making of Images, 400-1200. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Pp. 399. ISBN 0-521-58232-6. $59.95....

For medieval monastic culture, meditation, and not rational argument, is the path to proper remembrance. And for monks as for artisans, the notion of "craft" implies the proper use of the body as well as a craftiness of mind. So, this is a book about meditation as a "craft" that presupposes the mastery of all of the mind's "tools" that are appropriate to the soul's own special vocation, which is to employ proper books, "places" and buildings, and images (all of which involve as well the participation of a pure and well trained body) in the quest to know God. (source)

So much of the work of Christian spirituality is about proper remembrance--it makes sense to see meditation as the craft that makes this possible. I'm struck that we don't teach this nearly enough in church on Sundays. I mean, meditation is often one of the next things Christians are exposed to in their developing spiritual lives once they look beyond Sundays, but we don't look at it much on Sundays. Sometimes we'll have silence in liturgy or sing in a contemplative manner. But that isn't really teaching meditation, per se.

Once I gave a children's sermon at SMM in which I taught them about meditation and even did a five minute sit with them. Perhaps I should do something similar at COTM...

-t

Sermon - Pentecost 6 2008 (Kerrie's First!)

This Sunday was our monthly family service--which means that the kids stay the whole time with the assembly, and that there are some liturgical choices made to engage them. Usually the sermon is designed with the kids in mind.

Since we have a new Director of Children's and Youth Ministry--Kerrie Fulton--I thought this would be a good chance to give her a shot at preaching. It was her first time, so I basically just threw her into the pool--but really, is there any other way to learn?

She decided that since the kids were doing a special musical anthem after communion, she would show she is teaching the kids to use their bibles to find answers to questions like, "why do we sing?"

Very nice for a first attempt! I love her fearlessness, many people would have looked at me like I was nuts if I asked them to preach!



Here's a direct link to the MP3 file...

-t

Sermon - Pentecost 5 2008

I was pleased with how this sermon went. I think I'm definitely getting back into my preaching groove...



Here's a direct link to the MP3 file...

-t

Judy Paulsen on Leadership

Here is the Powerpoint presentation that the Rev'd Judy Paulsen (Incumbent of Christ Memorial Church, Oshawa) gave to our Momentum group a few days ago. Many thanks to her for sharing it....

| View | Upload your own

Also, a few books Judy recommended:

• Heifetz, Ronald. Leadership Without Easy Answers. 348pp. $20.46.
• Heifetz, Ronald. Leadership on the Line. 252pp. $21.75.
• Lencioni, Patrick. Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable.
• Lencioni, Patrick. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
• Roxburgh, Alan J. and Fred Romanuk. The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World 240pp. $16.29
• Roxburgh, Alan J. The Sky is Falling.

-t

Momentum

Momentum is over for me. The last hurrah was a good one. Lots of good laughs and some interesting final sessions about leadership. One of these was a presentation by The Rev'd Judy Paulsen--she promised to send me her Powerpoint show to post here when I get the chance.

Work has been busy and stressful. Missing two days means stuff piles up (including blogging stuff). But I'm not going to stay late on a Friday night to do that kind of Administrative stuff. I am, however, going to have a nice full riding my desk tomorrow. Tonight we are going over a friend's place for dinner. It will be nice to be pampered for a while.

-t

Craziness

Very, very busy day. Trad Com (BCP Communion), then fellowship lunch. Then I had barely an hour to return a bunch of phone calls before our staff meeting. The meeting went very well. Lots of good discussion as we covered a lot of ground and made some good-feeling decisions about a variety of matters. Amazing how much goes into running a place like this. For instance, we are still struggling to deal with the trash. Toronto Waste Services keeps missing the pick-up, for some reason. The "Trash Inspectors" (think police internal investigations but for trash) are trying to figure out why we keep getting missed. We also have yet to source a good, rugged trash receptacle for outside. The rats (yes, rats) ate through what we had out in the alley before--so we need something super tough.

We had to end the staff meeting when Susy Bleasby arrived to plan some more details of this summer's mural project. It's going to be intense. As I'll be away for much of it, good planning will be critical. I'm also thinking that I may need a designated "project manager" on the church side of things to coordinate the various things that need to mesh together. I should pray for God to give me a volunteer keen to do property management!

Again, I barely had an hour to do some e-mail and phone calls before the happy couple arrived to do marriage prep. Now it's 7:30 and I'm tired and looking forward to going home.

Tomorrow and the next day I'll be at a Momentum retreat, so don't expect a post. It's my "graduation" from the program--so a very bitter sweet moment in my professional career. Consider that I've shared deeply with these friends for the first three years of my call to Canada.

-t

Marriage Prep

I just finished doing a marriage prep session with a couple that live in the neighborhood. The actual wedding is being done by another priest out east, but it made sense for them to do the prep here.

Every priest does this differently, and my own style seems to change a lot based on the couple. For instance, sometimes it feels more like couple counseling and we really dig up deep stuff. Other times it's more like a class where I'm giving them "homework" like personality tests and essays about the spirituality of marriage to read.

I notice that a lot of priests seem to approach marriage prep as essentially a psychological issue. They want to explore issues around compatibility and behavior and so forth. Others treat marriage as a liturgical problem, and focus too much on ushering couples through the planning of the ceremony. Me, I like to cover a broad range of stuff and see what resonates with the couple. Ultimately, I'm just there to facilitate a process that is ongoing and will continue long past my brief involvement.

Another thing worth noticing: the couples I've met with are usually very enthusiastic about doing the marriage prep. They take it seriously and believe me when I tell them that studies show that good marriage prep is a significant factor in people staying together.

-t

SMM: The Best Church Choir in Canada...

BTW, I keep forgetting to post my congratulations to the St. Mary Magdalene's Gallery Choir for winning the CBC National Choir Competition in the category of "Church or Temple Choir." I'm very proud of them and can't help but be amused that St. Thomas's came in second, despite the fact that they pay many of their members, etc. What's a little friendly competition between high-church parishes?

When Stephanie Martin told me about it she had a real spark in her eye. Then she stuck her fist out for a "pound." Lol. I've always had a great connection with her and Bruce.

-t

Memories of Pizza

Friday was a busy day. Lots of little projects to handle--many of them confidential enough that i can't say much here. By the end of the day I was emotionally drained, but managed to gather enough energy to go out. Betsy and I went to a CD release concert at the church. It was a very successful concert, and the performer, Heather Taves, certainly put the piano through its paces. It worked pretty well, although there were a couple of minor technical issues that need to be addressed. The soft pedal and the sustain pedal were creating some problems--but it didn't interfere with the concert much.

After the concert, we went to a friend's birthday party. Once there, I met a woman currently in Kansas who got her masters degree at Yale. It was fun to talk about New Haven and Kansas and such places that I used to call home. I miss New Haven sometimes. It was a good size and had a lot going on. I still miss the excellent pizza. (New Haven claims to have invented the Pizza as we know it in North America.)

You haven't lived until you've had a New Haven mash potato and bacon pizza.

-t

Prayer of the Week - Pentecost 5

Beloved Parishioners,

In the Gospel lesson appointed for this Sunday (Matthew 9.35-10.23), Jesus sends his disciples on a mission. He sees the enormous need of the crowds of people who have come to receive his teaching and healing and "had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (9.36). In response to the world's need, he asks the disciples to pray for workers to gather the Lord's harvest (v.38). The prayer is apparently answered, as Jesus sends out the twelve disciples to extend his work among the Jews (vv. 10.5-6). Their mission is to "proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons" (vv. 7-8).

Jesus' further instructions deserve our attention. He tells these first evangelists to travel with the barest of provisions. Without money or extra clothes, they must rely on what the people to whom they minister provide. He tells them to expect opposition. "See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues" (vv. 16-17). Yet poverty of preparation is a feature of Kingdom-preaching: "When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time" (v. 19). They are to rely on God, not careful planning, to provide for their defense.

In our age of anxiety, we are told that careful planning will save us from a bad fate. So we develop procedures and asses risk and buy insurance and do everything we can to insulate ourselves from the reality that life is delicate and every moment precarious. But one of the features of the Kingdom-come is that every moment is a precious and holy encounter and that everything we need will be provided to us. This is a Gospel of freedom from worry even as we prepare for the most difficult of mission trips.

I'm not saying that planning doesn't have it's place in the life of faith, merely that we should not be possessed by it. There is a time for talking and for council and a time for action. I think more has been lost in the church by endless meetings than wasted by ill-conceived initiatives. Churches are naturally cautious creatures, but Jesus could not have been more clear in his instruction to spread the Good News. Glory to God, whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine....

Let us Pray,
O Lord God, you are the Holy One that dwells in all the world, receive our prayers for courage and faithfulness as we respond to your calling. Give us the conviction of hope and love that is our calling in Jesus Christ. Inspire our actions with your spirit of wisdom, that all we do may work to the building up of your Kingdom. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

In Christ,
Tay

Father Matthew Presents: Ordination

Father Matthew has a new video out. This time he's doing a three minute take on the meaning of Ordination:



I'm planning to bring him up to Toronto this fall to give a talk about Evangelism in the Internet age, or something similar. He does have a knack for describing things in a way un-churched people can understand.

-t