Reflections

Reflections

Sometimes things are hidden in plain sight.

I am Chair of the Board of The Gathering of Leaders, for 16 years a national leadership training community for clergy, focused on evangelism and mission. During this past week we are offering, for the first time, this training prototype for bi-vocational and part-time clergy in a conference center in San Antonio, Texas.

We had been working on this inaugural event for more than a year, but it wasn’t until Sunday as I was leaving Nativity on the way to the airport that it dawned on me that I fit into this targeted group of bi-vocational/ part time clergy. And, maybe, if I could admit to myself that I am not an expert on all leadership matters, there might be something I could learn.

Pride too often makes me blind to my own ignorance.

One early presenter reflected on 22 years of part time leadership in the same small congregation in Wyoming. Her wisdom and insights were remarkable, her deep joy, infectious. I probably won’t be at Nativity for 22 years(!) but it was exciting to imagine how this work will change me. Within an hour I had been invited into the Small Churches/ Big Impact Collective and asked to do a podcast with its coordinator.

And 24 hours earlier, I assumed that I would be the teacher!

I wonder how many other things that God wishes to teach me are hidden from me by my own pride and desire to appear competent.

Sunday’s Scriptures-a few initial thoughts Amos 8:4-7 The prophet Amos is hard to read. Most the book of Amos is his searing judgement on the neglect and abuse of the poor and vulnerable by the rich and comfortable. His words go down a lot easier if I can root him in his own historical context and keep him in his own 8th century b.c. container. Somehow I don’t think that’s what God has in mind. Psalm 113 The psalmist celebrates a God who turns the world, as we know it, upside down. “He raises the poor from the dust…to make them sit with princes…” and “He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children…” 1 Timothy 2:1-7 St. Paul implores his readers to pray “for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we might lead a quiet and peaceable life…” In the midst of our current political conflict and cultural chaos, I have to ask, “Which of you hasn’t been praying hard enough?” More seriously, as a well educated Roman citizen who had access to power and influence, Paul was particularly interested in social stability. Enslaved persons might be less interested in societal order. Like much of life, so much depends on perspective. Luke 16: 1-13 The parable of the dishonest steward is perplexing at first glance. Why would Jesus commend the dishonest steward for his dishonestly shrewd behavior and suggest we make friends by means of “dishonest wealth?” Maybe Georgetown University’s effort to create scholarships for descendants of enslaved persons, who GU sold to establish its endowment and financial stability, is a way of dealing with dishonest wealth. Maybe the commendation of shrewdness is consistent with Jesus charge to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”? (Matthew 10:16). Other Matters of Interest: -Tuesday, September 20 @6:00am - Mission Committee meets at BTC. All members of Nativity are welcome. -Next Sunday, September 28, Ann Whitaker will be the preacher and celebrant at Nativity. Down the road, I will be facilitating a panel discussion that Sunday at St. Peter’s about a course on race that I coordinated last winter/spring. Entitled “Sacred Ground”, it is a film-and readings- based dialog series on race, grounded in faith. I will be offering it again in 2023. More later. -Interested in giving altar flowers as a memorial or gift of thanksgiving? We are in the early stages of organizing a calendar and a protocol for flower donations. The flowers can be given in memory of…, in honor of…or in thanksgiving for and will be noted in the Sunday worship bulletin. They can be purchased or cut from your own garden. More details will follow. Stay tuned. -Our Blessing Box food ministry needs volunteers to oversee its ministry in October, November or December. There is a signup sheet in the rear of the church for those interested in helping. -“Episcopal Church 101-A guide to our peculiar way of life”. October 16-November 13(Sundays) at 9:15am at the This Is Noteworthy (TIN) Building at 16s Main Street. If you are planning to join us for these 5-part series, please let me know so that I can have enough of the small “text books” available at the first session. -The Nativity Budget Committee held its organizational meeting this past week. Thanks to Kathryn York, Robbie Fisher, Shannon Adams, James McCormick, Vivian McKey and Roger Patterson who have agreed to work on different ways that Nativity’s budget can reflect the priorities of mission for this congregation. See you Sunday! Peace, Duncan