Bishop Mary's Message February 15, 2008

Dear Friends,

First, thank you for the excellent participation in the vision days last month. They were a great blessing to me personally, and as I receive feedback from people all around the diocese, they were experienced as enjoyable and informative and drew out the best of ideas and energy in our diocese. They were great opportunities for practicing the essential spiritual discipline of wonder, and thereby seeing the seen and the unseen of God. We experienced great fruit on those days as we stayed close to God’s presence, having “joy and wonder in God’s works”.

As we move forward from the vision days, the content of which will be utilized in a variety of ways (and more on that is forthcoming), I would like to highlight two other opportunities that are scheduled in our diocese over the next several months. The Magnetic Church conference, with nationally known evangelism speaker, Andrew Weeks, is scheduled for May 16 and 17. You can review our website here for more information about what to expect. I am sure that this conference, focused on congregational development, will provide something of value for all our congregations. I encourage you to bring congregational development teams from your parish so that you can maximize your learning, as well as return to your parish with an action plan. Please note that while much of the cost of this conference is being provided through funds collected at the consecration, a small fee will be required. If some members of your congregation find meeting this fee a challenge, please know that scholarships are available.

In the fall, along with CERT, I hope to have another conference around the theme of ‘Busting Barriers’. Sometimes we get stuck; in life, in relationships, in churches. I hope to find the right speaker or facilitator that can help us with insights about how we can become unstuck. For example, I have found in life that if we learn certain principles of forward motion, if we embrace a mindset that anticipates the need for change, and we deepen our trust in God’s plan for our lives, then we find it easier to remain fluid, flexible and able to more readily answer God’s call in our lives. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? At the vision days, the number one response to the question, “What is your objection to being a better church than you already are?”, was “fear of change”. I hope we can find a way to effectively gather in order to work with the dynamic of our fear, and create within ourselves and our congregations, greater flexibility in our desire and ability to follow God’s call.

I look forward to seeing you at these events, but moreover I take great joy in seeing how what you learn translates into reality in the life of your parish. I pray that as we continue to work together and try new things, our commitment will deepen, and we will be empowered to provide even greater space for the transformation of lives for all who seek Christ. May our hearts and minds be stretched to include the greatness of God’s vision for our diocese!

Many blessings,

+Mary