I wrote the following poem during my recent return ‘back to school!’ During that time, we were introduced to the book, Trumpet at Full Moon, written by Paul W. Jones. One of the goals of the book is to connect spiritual practice with Christian theology and, in particular, its appropriate relationship with the Trinity. After our Seminar discussed the text, we were given an assignment to practice some of of spiritual exploration and report back with an ‘artefact.’ I chose to share my time of mediation through a poem and image from a Wordle! The poem is below in both text and with the images themselves. I pray it proves of interest!

 

 

A Deacon’s Musing blog

If you missed the announcement that was made to the congregation last November you may not have heard about the exciting event happening in our congregation in the Fall of 2012!

In 2007 The General Council of The United Church in Canada brought into effect a policy that entitles ministry personnel to a three-month sabbatical leave after each five-year interval of ministry in the same pastoral charge.  This policy provides eligible ministry personnel an opportunity for reflection, recreation and revitalization, unencumbered by their usual and customary responsibilities, while still receiving their regular remuneration and benefits. A sabbatical finds expression in study, rest, spiritual retreat, and prayer.  A sabbatical leave is in addition to any vacation and study leave that ministry personnel are entitled to.

As Rev. Shelly and Dea. Richard Manley-Tannis will be eligible for their three-month sabbatical leave as of June 1, 2012, they have formally requested to the Ministry & Personnel Committee, which Council has subsequently approved, that they be granted their three-month sabbatical leave commencing September 1, 2012 and returning December 1, 2012.

Shelly and Richard have each submitted proposals outlining their plans and goals for the three months they will be on Sabbatical to the Ministry & Personnel Committee.  The Committee has shared these proposals with Council. The following is a short summary of each proposal.

We can look forward to hearing about their time away when they return.  Both Shelly and Richard have promised a written report and will be happy to share their experiences with UCiM.

What are we as a congregation going to do for worship and pastoral care during Shelly and Richard’s absence?

A number of weeks ago an Ad Hoc Sabbatical planning committee was struck by Council. The members of this committee are Barb Brown, Chair, Bev Hindle, Deb Harvey, Tannis Young and Gord Stimpson.  The committee was charged with the responsibility to make recommendations to Council concerning leadership during September, October and November 2012.  In preparing their report they reviewed the duties of leadership that Shelly and Richard had outlined to the Ministry and Personnel Committee.

The Committee presented their recommendation to Council at the April Council meeting and it was approved. On April 29, members of the Committee presented highlights of their report to the congregation.

To quote from the United Church in Meadowood Sabbatical Plan Recommendation: “To use resources from among us and fully benefit from the learning opportunities available to a congregation during a sabbatical, the Committee contacted persons from the congregation asking about their willingness to fill some of the duties in different areas.  Our efforts were fuelled by the enthusiasm and willingness of persons who immediately agreed to step up.  We believe our own congregation is our greatest resource.  We recommend that ministerial duties be covered by congregants of The United Church in Meadowood during the Sabbatical.”

The Committee accompanied the recommendation with a plan of action covering Administration, Christian Education, Council & committee meeting support/consultation, funerals, pastoral care, weddings and worship services all using the time, talents and gifts of UCiM congregants.

This will truly be a time of renewal, reflection, recreation and revitalization for Shelly and Richard and for all of us at Meadowood.  This is our opportunity to develop new skills, polish up some old ones and to work together to become a stronger community of faith and fellowship.

If you would like more information about the Ad Hoc Committee Sabbatical Plan or would like to offer your services please contact any member of the  Sabbatical Committee or Ministry and Personnel.

Submitted on behalf of the Ministry & Personnel Committee:
Jane Bullied, Chair
Mary Edwardsson, Archie Campbell, Ron Kirby, Kris Ramchandar, Clare McMullen – members

UCiM-isms blog

UCiM has been tweeting for a while now. During that time, part of our online ministry has been to tweet a prayer, thought, reflection, challenge or something in-between. So we got to thinking, perhaps we could offer that as a blog resource for both our family of faith and those just checking us out! Pop in each week as we share the previous week’s UCiM-isms!

Recently, during one of my tweeting moments for UCiM, I wrote the following UCiM-ism:

The catalyst for this recent blog occurred during my run along the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton, AB, while I was attending my first Doctoral Seminar at St. Stephen’s College. The run was early in the morning and the sun was kissing eastern clouds painting everything in rosy red crimson that Homer was so found of citing in the Odyssey.

On that path, as I headed back toward my Edmonton abode, there – to my left and right – were Magpies calling to one another, taking notes as I lumbered by and, contrary to what others think is possible in the river valley, I saw a coyote. It watched my advance and subsequent retreat not so much with fright, but with a feigned curiosity. In this moment of Canadian Geese migrating, ducks quacking their quack, and others passing by who wandered into the day upon that trail for various unspoken reasons, I was keenly aware of beauty.

I possess many gifts from my maternal side and one of them happens to be a family-tree. In that meandering weave, which apparently winds its way back to the 4^th Century in Syria, of unspoken stories – joys and grief, celebration and suffering – my family seems to have often (if not always) been rooted in an urban context. That did not change when my Great-Grandfather, fleeing European expansion and rising Christian intolerance from the Ottoman Empire, arrived in Montreal and continued this connexion that informs my family’s mythology.

Knowing this storied part of my family of origin, I am also aware that the enamour of the rural remains a constant counter-point in a world in which global climate change is occurring. This enamour – this romanticising – however, is not new. The Roman Poet, Virgil, is just one ancient person who waxed about the idyllic pastoral lifestyle one experienced when removed from the confines of the city. This tendency to polarise, in my experience, seems to have only intensified as argumentation from those who are ‘green’ and those who represent ‘authority,’ arrive at a place where tension and, implicitly, the potential for violence is rationalised.

In Canada, there is now pending legislation that will make it illegal for activists to wear masks. As well, environmental NGOs, which confront government policy or multi-nationals, may very well face a loss of their charitable status. And though I have some intellectual sympathy for the economic interests that governments attempt to balance for everyone and – at the same time – appreciate the intense passion of those who desire to care for Creation, the ever-increasing rhetoric has me greatly concerned. I am worried that as long as everyone is talking AT each other, lives may become literally caught in situations that will lead to an escalation from which we might be unable to disentangle.

I know I am predisposed to the idyllic or imagined potential that occurs when our creativity is allowed to spread unfettered. I do not think this polarity, binary, comparison is either helpful or – ultimately – accurate. All of God’s Creation is sacred. Not this place or that one. The problem, or such it seems to me, is that we parse, debate, find our individual passion and fail to realise that this entire sphere, planet, is an ecosystem without which we literally cannot live. Quality of life is certainly important and governments, at their best, endeavour to ensure that all have access to the tools and opportunity to better life. The voices of challenge and parable serve to create opportunity to reflect on whether current practice is best or whether there might be another way. But without a mantra of seeking balance in this grey conundrum of human ambiguity there always remains the temptation to know you’re right and I’m wrong

A Deacon’s Musing blog

 “This is bullshit!” There was less conviction this time. It had been a long time coming and the tipping point was close.

“Hello? Can anyone bloody-well hear me?” He thought he was shouting, but he was no longer certain whether his voice was carrying. It might even be possible, he considered, that his voice was so worn that he only heard himself because no one was bloody listening.

He tried to find the phone … it was somewhere nearby … that’s what he knew. Of course, as his hands slipped through that stuff that sure felt like sand, but – since his sight had failed a while back – he couldn’t be sure. He could feel the grit as he moved his hand around, slapping into the granular assumed-to-be-sand-stuff, but he couldn’t find the stupid thing! And, of course, there was something new … he thought there were a lot of new things occurring way too fast when the last thing he knew … no that wasn’t right, was it? No, the last thing he remembers before this hell was when things were going so well! And wasn’t that the point, he thought again?

He gave up, he couldn’t find it. And now, as his hand hung in the embracing grains of pulverised rock, he felt water lapping its way up his wrist. At first it did not register. It seemed that as his sight receded, so too had his sense of feeling. Touch was okay – though a lot of good it did him (he complained) in finding that stupid phone. But suddenly there was the sensation of water and he knew that couldn’t be good. He thought he would be hearing gulls flying away from the rising tide, but he couldn’t hear anything. Which, of course, led him to a moment of swearing as only he could – this of course was a surprise to many who got to know them as they walked the walk along the way. But, lying there, it seemed that he was likely not even speaking, he was only imagining his rote reaction to losing power … instead, he realised with resignation, that he was tired …

What did it matter? He had tried to get away from the ebbing rise. Already he could imagine his arm – from the below the elbow – was blue. Sure felt searingly chilled! And then there it was … what was that sound he thought? He couldn’t lift his head, nope! And – even if he could – he couldn’t bloody well see. But there was a sound … rising water? … sirens? …

Maybe he should have felt … like he had to hide again … but this was something else. Was that wind? Ah, he thought with a moment of doubt, is that a helicopter? Did they find me? Hollow joy for a moment of desire lingered for, but now seeming inconsequential … it wasn’t … mechanical? Or completely … as he drew what energy he had left, it sounded more like feathered flight dancing into a hover … and then the wind died …

A Deacon’s Musing blog

UCiM-isms blog

UCiM has been tweeting for a while now. During that time, part of our online ministry has been to tweet a prayer, thought, reflection, challenge or something in-between. So we got to thinking, perhaps we could offer that as a blog resource for both our family of faith and those just checking us out! Pop in each week as we share the previous week’s UCiM-isms!

UCiM wants to share this invitation from the YAMs in our midst! As well, feel free to check out the YAMs@ their facebook group!