Nota - Este artículo es disponible en español aquí.
Gabriel Marcel, a French, Christian philosopher, speaks eloquently about the notion of Disponibilité. The most direct translation of this word in English is "availability" but in French and Spanish, there is more depth and nuance than the English translation. Availability is more passive than active. Disponibilité is anything but. Disponibilité is not just about the fact that we make ourselves available, but that we bring resources—all kinds of resources—with us to a particular situation, encounter, or relationship. It implies an attitude of openness, an attitude that allows the Holy Spirit to work through and with us to meet the aching needs of the world. If we actively and intentionally practice hope, generosity, courage, kindess—all the charisms of faith—the resources we offer are deepened so literally, there is more of us to offer and make available for God’s work in the world. Of course the model and supreme example of Disponibilité is Jesus, Christ.
As the end of a ministry looms, we are often disappointed, saddened, or in some other sense, left feeling emptied. It is tempting for a leader—lay or clergy—to begin to check out ahead of the last day 'on the job'. The impulse is understandable, but is it faithful? The answer is found in the word 'faithful'—our faith, when we allow it to, fills us, allows us to carry a full measure of grace. The 'end times' that come in all ministry are an opportunity to lay claim to the full measure of grace God always waits to offer us so that, in turn, we can continue to practice Disponibilité.
Continue reading...
An English version of this article is available here.
El filósofo francés y cristiano, Gabriel Marcel, expone de manera elocuente el concepto de Disponibilidad. La disponibilidad no se trata de una actitud pasiva—antes por lo contrario. Nuestra disponibilidad implica algo más que hacernos presentes. También brindamos todos nuestros recursos a cualquier situación, encuentro o relación. Implica una actitud abierta, una manera de ubicarnos en el mundo que permite que obre el Espíritu Santo en nosotros y por medio de nosotros a fin de responder a las profundas necesidades del mundo. Si practicamos la esperanza, generosidad, valentía, bondad—todos los carismas del la fe—los recursos que podemos brindar se vuelven cada vez más profundos y tenemos más para brindarle al mundo. El modelo y ejemplo máximo de la disponibilidad es Jesucristo.
Cuando se acerca el final de un ministrio, muchas veces estamos cansados, desilusionados o de alguna manera nos sentimos vacíos. Ya sea un líder ordenado o un líder laico, siente uno la tentación de desprenderse antes de que llegue el último momento. Es lógico es impulso ¿pero es fiel? Nuestra fe, cuando lo permitimos, nos llena de gracia. Más que de costumbre, esos “momentos finales” de un ministerio nos dan la oportunidad para aceptar la plenitude de gracia que Dios siempre nos desea ofrecer a fin de que nosotros también podamos practicar la disponibilidad.
Continue reading...
I braved the question: How was the meeting?
I feared the typical forlorn answer. Frustrating. Long. Circular. Without direction.
This particular committee was causing consternation, and I knew he was starting to dread the meetings.
This time, his answer surprised me. We laughed.
This church committee didn’t agree on everything. They circled back on some decisions, as they’d done before. Fear of change kept the group from being bold in some places.
But they laughed together. And that was huge progress.
I remembered again how laughter can be a bridge. Sharing a light moment can transform a meeting. When we’re to laugh together, we can’t help but feel more like a team united around a common cause instead of enemy combatants, each with our own objective.
Continue reading...
Wherever you are, be there. (Peter Jennings)
So often in my work with congregational leaders I hear a longing for the way things used to be. This longing is not simply for the financial stability of the past, though that is certainly a component, but for the ways of a by-gone era—a time of identity, of security, of assurance; a time that seemed to have an infinite future, grounded in recognized and predictable social patterns.
Though today’s congregations can hardly claim the overt hostilities known to the exiles in Jeremiah’s day, the less tangible enemies of indifference and perceived irrelevance can be just as formidable.
While the false prophets trade on feel-good predictions, assurances that it will all be over soon, and easy answers for making it all OK, Jeremiah speaks a raw truth of presence: The Lord has put you here. The Lord has put you now. The Great I Am, the God whose very name is in the present tense, wants you to be the light in this darkness, the unfailing strength in this chaos, the place of refuge in this storm.
Continue reading...
Until last week, I'd never been involved in a worshipping community's celebration of the completion of its first year; Southside Abbey's one year anniversary changed that.
Think about all that takes place throughout the church year. Ordinary Time becomes the watchfulness of Advent. Incarnation is realized in Epiphany. Lenten fasts are broken by Easter joy. The Great Fifty Days culminate in the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, until once again, time becomes ordinary.
While every parish shares in this rich rhythm, it is different with a new worshiping community. Everything is new. There is no, “we've always done it that way.” At Epiphany, no one thought it odd that we went door-to-door sharing “Episcopal Epiphany Pickles” . . . three hundred pounds of pickles. By Lent, no one batted an eye when soup-making consumed every Sunday . . . so that we could share 400 cups with our neighborhood.
Continue reading...
Even atheists believe church is good for the soul. That is, they would if they believed in the soul.
Two comedians from England have launched the Sunday Assembly, church for the godless. I can’t tell if this is a cosmic joke or cause for weeping.
The founders cite studies that show churchgoers are happier and healthier. Going to church creates community and builds relationships, the founders acknowledge. And families like the structure of church for their children.
Although any comparison will fail, a church for atheists seems a little like producing “Hamlet” without Hamlet. Thanksgiving without the turkey. The World Series without a bat.
It’s just playing church if the central figure is missing.
Continue reading...
Sometimes judging is easy. You read a blog and decide the theology is OK but it’s poorly written. Someone mentions and idea he has for a new program and you immediately know that it’s not a good idea. A new reimbursement policy is announced at work and your first response is that it’s pointless and obnoxious.
Learning is harder. It requires asking a few more questions in order to understand where the new policy or the bad theology is coming from.
This past week I went to a workplace training led by Anthony Panos of
Organizational Performance Group. This distinction between judging and learning was one of the helpful distinctions he made during the training.
All of the ideas and articles and policies and people we encounter have a history. While we, as church leaders or employees in the workplace or just thoughtful human beings, will have to make judgments all the time, starting from a stance of learning will help us better understand those things we encounter.
Continue reading...
Engagement with the Bible is the single most important factor in the spiritual health of a congregation.
Sure, studies have shown other key ingredients: leadership, service, hospitality, community. But reading scripture emerges as a vital element in spiritual renewal.
As Episcopalians, we’re all too often content with Sunday morning lectionary readings as our full dose of scripture for the week. And we certainly share a wise-spread disdain for Bible thumpers—for those who use the Bible as a weapon, not a tool.
But what if we became Bible thumb-ers? That is, what if we committed to being people who read scripture, who put our hands on and in the Bible, familiar enough with the books to thumb through and find a pertinent passage?
Continue reading...
I recently had the pleasure of presenting at Episcopal Appalachian Ministries' Mountain Grace Conference, “We(e) Small Voice – Exploring Small and Non-Traditional Church in Appalachia." While there, I was honored to be part of wonderfully honest conversations about how the Holy Spirit is active in Episcopal Churches from Pennsylvania to Georgia. We talked about small churches that were thriving – doing wonderful ministry in, through, and with the communities they serve – and we talked about small churches that were not thriving – with scarcely enough participation or will to continue.
Bishop Ken Price delivered the morning's keynote address, where he sounded the refrain, “Small Churches are Real Churches.” While I appreciated this encouraging message for parishes who really needed to hear it, I will note a trend I saw over the weekend. The small churches that are thriving are those engaged in outwardly focused (what I call missional) activities in their communities. These parishes are doing ministry outside the walls of their buildings, not for the purpose of bringing people through the doors, but for that is where Jesus calls us. There happens to be a side effect of engaging the community in a missional way. As the parish lives into this call – responding in love to the felt needs of the community – more people come through the doors of the building, bringing with them new vitality and creativity.
Continue reading...
When is the last time you took a field trip? Fifth grade? Washington, D.C.?
Third grade to a historical re-enactment? First grade to the zoo?
(As an aside, my daughter’s class took a field trip to a water treatment plant. Really?)
Our staff had a field trip this week. The team I work with meets every Tuesday morning. We talk about upcoming projects and troubleshoot existing ones. This is important work. And because like workers everywhere, we are performing more with fewer resources, we are focused on the present problems. We don’t get a lot of time to dream, to imagine, to let our minds loose to explore new ideas. We’re focused, perhaps rightly so, on the work in front of us.
Enter from stage left: the field trip.
We moved our meeting to a local bookstore coffee shop. We shared brunch/lunch and spent much of that time discussing current work and making decisions about projects for the next few weeks. It probably would have been better to just let that time be for fellowship and relationship-building, but some issues were pressing and begged our attention.
Afterward, I asked the staff to spend at least an hour in the bookstore. Roam around. Pick up books that intrigue you. Touch the covers and feel the paper between your fingers. Snap pictures of compelling designs with a smartphone. Thumb through books that are similar to what we produce—make note of what they’re doing better, and where we excel.
Continue reading...
Our parish demographics were changing, as were economic conditions, and our annual giving team realized that our stewardship campaign needed to change with them. In years past, our ‘one size fits all’ approach worked for a homogenous, churched population. With new families that did not have a history of pledging or were from non-churched backgrounds and more established members who were stagnant in their giving, we developed methods to engage these specific groups within the larger framework of our campaign.
As we began to revise the traditional giving campaign, we realized that two questions needed to be answered:
How could we include and foster those from non-church backgrounds into Christian giving?
How could we equally emphasize the spiritual aspects of stewardship and the parish financial needs?
Continue reading...
Sometimes the best way to bring about needed change is to actually break something.
The damage in the parish hall at St. James Anglican Church in Perth, Ontario caused the congregation to post signs forbidding skateboarding on the property. St. James had a vision and a plan – and skateboarders were not part of it. Until, the day a parishioner recognized,
"We saw a stranger knocking at our door and we chased him away. Only later did we realized this was Christ giving us an opportunity to do outreach...”
Today, because a few parishioners were willing to open the church – and their hearts - to the youth who were hanging around their property – most of whom had no experience of church, St. James has a thriving Skater Ministry.
When something breaks, someone will spring into action. And action is what it takes to bring about real change. In this series of Vestry Papers articles we explore ways to break out of expected patterns of behavior, opening our hearts and our minds to the Holy Spirit, to help us recognize where God is beckoning us to go.
In Vestry Papers this month:
Continue reading...
“
Instead of asking how to keep going, change the question to why.”
During the Discernment Phase for a capital campaign, we seek to ask what God is calling a parish to do. This often comes in the collective wisdom of a parish community. Meaning—one person may have a vision, but most often the parish community has strong (and potentially diverse) feelings about capital improvement projects.
I once took a series of conflict negotiation courses at NYU. Given that both my husband and I work in the Church, I thought it a prudent move. There I learned that the first step to any conversation involving conflict is to identify shared values. For example, we may not agree on the type of nametags to be used during a worship service, but we could agree that welcoming newcomers is a shared value held by those at the church.
Parishes often are so busy keeping things going, they forget to ask why. What is of value that we can offer the world?
Continue reading...
In Christian circles, we hear a lot about saying yes. We open ourselves up to Jesus, saying yes to his call for our life. We should be open to the Holy Spirit, ready to respond as it moves in and through us. Yes, to attending worship. Yes, to the stewardship committee. Yes, to the pancake supper.
But no isn’t always a naughty word. There is a spiritual discipline is saying no to some things so that you can yes to others.
My personal tendency is to say yes. I want to find ways to accommodate requests, to help people tell their stories. But every time I say yes to a submission, a book, a project, it means that there are other stories and projects to which I must say no. There’s only so much time and workers, much less money.
Churches face the same challenges. We hear over coffee hour that somebody would like a Saturday night service. Someone else prefers Sunday afternoons. A third person would live a 2 pm offering. And what about a program on the saints? On the rosary? On the life of Paul? On the last words of Jesus?
Continue reading...
When you care, it’s hard to let go.
We know that instinctively but, as with many things, when it comes to watching the emotional tug-of-war play out, we often forget.
It’s been six months since I left my job as a diocesan communications director. I love my new gig (and I’m not just saying that. My boss is out of town and won’t be reading this!). For many reasons, professionally, personally, spiritually, the change was just right. And the longer I'm here, the more convinced I am that this is where I'm supposed to be.
But I spent 10 years with the diocese and find myself in conversation still saying “we” instead of “they.” I read the diocesan newspaper and think about which things I would have done differently. I check out the new website design and read the e-mail missives.
Mostly, I’ve moved on. Some of the changes they have made are fantastic—and I wish I had thought of them. Others are ones that I wouldn’t have made. But that’s really a moot point. I’m not in the position to make them. That part of diocesan life is someone else’s job.
Continue reading...
Sometimes it’s hard to be nice.
We’re at the tail-end of our first landlord experience, having leased our old house after we moved 18 months ago. Despite our cajoling, forgiving, pleading, and insisting, the payments were never on time and stopped completely a few months ago. We have a court date for the eviction in a week.
As we’ve shared the story, the responses have been interesting: I guess you learned your lesson. It doesn’t pay to be nice. It’s good to be Christian, but sometimes in business, you have to set aside your compassion and be tough.
In hindsight, we would do a lot of things differently. But after spending some time beating myself up for giving the tenants some slack when their lives were in turmoil, I’ve decided I wouldn’t change that part.
Continue reading...
I recently spent a morning on a cascade of blunders. I made one mistake after another, arrived late, forgot key information, failed to carry out my mission, and drove 30 entirely useless miles. It was a total loss.
On the freeway heading home, I seriously thought about making up a less embarrassing cover story. But there was a point in my life when I committed to living in the light of the truth, even when the truth cast me in an unflattering light. At the moment I accepted that I had failed utterly, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. And I felt closer to God. At my most fully human, I could be glad that God was God, and that my deep imperfection is not the end of the story.
Continue reading...
I think the idea is great.
Now we have to wait and see if it will take hold.
A church member came up with the idea of starting a lunch bunch group. Our church is growing, and not everyone knows each other anymore. It’s a natural growing pain but one that’s sometimes hard to mitigate.
One way, thought the church member, is to create opportunities for interaction.
The lunch bunch idea is built on the same concept as Foyer Groups, Dinners for Eight, or other similar eat-and-meet programs. Folks sign up during the week or on Sunday morning. They are placed in groups of four or eight, and after the service, they gather to pick a restaurant for Sunday brunch.
Continue reading...
On Thursday I tried rock climbing. It was our office staff day so we went to Chelsea Piers, a big athletic complex. They have a rock-climbing wall, covered in bright red and green and blue knobs and someone holds a rope so you don’t fall. It was more fun than I expected.
I have to admit I’m not a particularly adventurous person. I like books and movies and small groups of friends best. In other words, you probably won’t find me sky diving anytime soon. Still, I find that when I push myself outside my relatively small comfort zone I am often pleasantly surprised. Even the less-than-ideal experiences I’ve participate in—the boring parties, the bad plays, the awkward ice-breakers—have taught me something.
A little anxiety is natural when we’re trying something new or meeting strangers. Which is fine, I was reminded last week, as long as we don’t let that anxiety keep us from growing. Better to acknowledge our fears and anxieties and then move forward.
Continue reading...
It’s spring, and the birds are singing, the flowers blooming and my wallet’s being laid open.
May always sneaks up on us as one of the most expensive times of year. We prepare for the beginning of school shopping and save for Christmas. But with field trips and yearbooks and teacher thank-you-gifts, end-of-the-school-year racks up the costs.
And it’s not just kids pulling on the purse strings but myriad fundraisers—cancer walks and garden shows, spaghetti dinners and themed dances.
Don’t get me wrong: These are noble and important causes, and we try to support a number of non-profits.
But, let me be honest: I give more cheerfully when it’s fun.
Our Episcopal Church Women held its annual card party last week. The main fundraiser of the year, the traditions of this event were writ in stone just after Moses came down from the mountain. But we took a chance and added a new element: Heads or tails. Women purchased Mardi Gras beads, each strand the equivalent of one raffle ticket. In addition to the beads adding glamour to our outfits, they raised $3 a piece for mission and youth ministry of the church.
Continue reading...
RSS Feed