Vol XVII. No. 20
Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2019
Current archives listed on this page
GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE
Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address: waholst@telus.net
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Dear Friends:
My Special Item for this issue of Colleague List focuses on pastoral changes and transition in our local communities. I share a few thoughts from my own experience and continue to learn.
I hope you find other items selected for this week to be of interest.
PLEASE NOTE - If a link below, seems to be dead, cut and
paste it into the address bar at the top of your web page
and it should work.
Wayne
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SPECIAL ITEM
PASTORAL TRANSITION
Thoughts Based on Experience
My home congregation, St. David's United Church Calgary, has been going through the pastoral transition of two staff members recently and it has set me thinking about the transitions of my own ministry over the past fifty years. After some reflection, I share several pointed principles with you, my readers, of what I did or did not do for the benefit of my growth in ministry and the witness of the Christian community.
Know When to Leave
No matter how much a pastor may have accomplished; or no matter how well-loved or appreciated - there is always a time to say goodbye. Pastors may have a sense when this time has come, but often it is good to have the advice of wise, supportive friends outside the congregation or ministry being served. Many good ministries have terminated on a negative or questionable note because the pastor did not seem to know when it was time to hand in that resignation.
Depart With Grace if Possible
There are good congregations and organizations and not-so good ones. Mature people in all kinds of congregations and other ministry situations can help with the transition. There may be negatives to contend with, but clergy and other congregational leaders can do a lot to smooth over the bumps of any transition by being graceful about it. Sometimes we clergy can be quite lacking in grace during upsetting times of change for us. I have, on some occasions, been helped by both fellow-clergy and lay colleagues to work through transition with positive words and deeds.
Become Scarce
Once the termination date has been announced, the pastor needs to work toward a distinct break to help renewal under new leadership to take place. Many church organizations set specific time limits on departed clergy for any reconnection whatsoever. In most cases I think this is wise. When such constraints do not exist, it is the responsibility of the departing pastor to establish them personally. Severing those tries can be very painful, but attempts to retain connections at this transitional time can end up being much worse.
Forgiveness and Healing
Can Come Through Christ
The Christian community exists for the sake of witness to Christ and the good news of the gospel. Even when bad things happen and deep hurts result, we have in our possession the priceless gifts of forgiveness and healing.
As I move through the senior years of my ministry I have learned a few things through experience. The most important discoveries are those I could have not imagined possible and certainly have not earned.
Wayne
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COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS
Elfrieda Schroeder
Winnipeg, MB
In Transit Blog
January 4th, 2022
"We Are What We Choose to Remember"
--
Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX
Personal Web Site
January 10th, 2022
"What We Do in Private"
--
Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC
Personal Web Log
January 9th, 2022
"The People We Rendered Invisible"
--
Mark Whittall,
Ottawa, ON.
Sermons and Blog
January 7th, 2022
"Baptism"
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NET NOTES
BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL
FOR OUR SAKES
by Joan Chittister
National Catholic Reporter
January 6th, 2022
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A WORSHIP PRACTICE
ZOOM CAN'T REPLICATE
Silence as a Discipline
The Christian Century,
January 5th, 2022
--
DESMOND TUTU -
POLITICIAN OR SAINT?
He Was Both
Religion News Service,
January 10th, 2022
--
UNITED CHURCH MINISTERS
ARE BURNING OUT
Broadview,
December 19th, 2022
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WAS MARY MAGDALENE
REALLY FROM MAGDALA?
Scholars Discuss Her Origins
National Catholic Reporter,
January 11th, 2022
--
A SURGE OF EVANGELICALS IN SPAIN
IS FUELED BY LATIN AMERICANS
A Big Impact on Spain's Migrant Population
Religious News Service
January 4th, 2022
--
THE CAPITOL ATTACK HELD UP
A MIRROR TO THE NATION
We Must Reckon with
What America has Become
Sojourners,
February 2022
--
MOTHER TERESA'S CHARITY
IS NO LONGER BANNED IN INDIA
Others are Still Without this Freedom
The Christian Post
January 9th, 2022
--
INDIGENOUS MORMONS STRUGGLE
TO BALANCE PRIDE IN THE FAITH
WITH LDS HISTORY
Religion News Service,
January 11th, 2022
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AS RUSSIA AMASSES TROOPS
AT BORDER DEEP ANXIETY HANGS
OVER UKRAINE'S CATHOLICS
National Catholic Reporter,
January 12th, 2022
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WISDOM OF THE WEEK
Provided by Sojourners and the Bruderhof online:
Be courageous. Be kind. Be hopeful about your ability to bring about a better world.
- Rabbi Andrea L. Weiss
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The whole cosmos is a Self-giving of God. And we will find our place in the great dance only to the extent that we love.
- J. Philip Newell
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We are all capable of good and evil. We are not born bad; everybody has something good inside. Some hide it, some neglect it, but it is there. God created us to love and to be loved, so it is our test from God to choose one path or the other.
- Mother Teresa
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Patience is more than endurance. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says, “I cannot stand anymore.” God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly. Trust yourself in God’s hands.
- Oswald Chambers
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Jesus calls us to recognize that gladness and sadness are never separate, that joy and sorrow really belong together, and that mourning and dancing are part of the same movement. That is why Jesus calls us to be grateful for every moment that we have lived, and to claim our unique journey as God’s way to mold our hearts to greater conformity with God’s own. The cross is the main symbol of our faith, and it invites us to find hope where we see pain, and to reaffirm the resurrection where we see death. The call to be grateful is a call to trust that every moment of our life can be claimed as the way of the cross that leads us to new life.
- Henri J.M. Nouwen
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To think of ourselves as related means to recognize that we stand in a network of mutual obligation and care with each person with whom we come into contact. As we know, the US government and American settlers more often treated native peoples with suspicion, violence, and unfaithfulness than with such concern. This fact continues to show its ill effects today. Still, this truth is our only hope for addressing and setting right this ongoing history: you are my relative, and I am yours. Believing and acting this way is the work of peace, for all of us of every heritage, and it is the road we must take if we are to reconcile past hurts and to share this country in friendship.
- Nathan Beacon
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Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
And He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also
The bow that is stable.
Kahlil Gibran
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CLOSING THOUGHT - Richard Rohr
There is no path to peace, but peace itself is the path.
(end)
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For Those Interested -
ACTS MINISTRY WINTER STUDIES AT ST.DAVID'S UNITED:
Monday Night Book Study - Jan. 17th - Mar. 28th 7-8:30 PM Zoom (10 weeks)
Book Theme: "On the Brink of Everything" by Parker Palmer
**
Thursday Morning Bible Study - Jan. 20th - Mar. 31st 10-11 AM
Zoom (10 weeks)
Bible Theme - Biblical book(s) to be studied this term will be
selected at the first gathering of the class, January 20th.
If you have questions, contact me at waholst@telus.net
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