This weekend I have stayed in Belleville for worship rather than attend the Annual Meeting of Bay of Quinte Conference in Peterborough. It seemed appropriate to be the worship leader here when I am so new to the congregation. I have been following several attendees on Twitter, as well as the tweets from other Conferences across the country. Our son, Isaac, is a United Church minister in London, Conference, although the last few years he was in Montreal and Ottawa. I have served in five different conferences through the years. As a national church we have thirteen of these conferences, a vestige or a gift from our Methodist roots. Twelve conferences are geographical, and the thirteenth, All Native Circle, is made up of First Nations congregations found in several of those other conferences.
It seems that in this first year of what is called the Comprehensive Review there is a renewed dedication and even urgency to consider where our denomination is headed. The constant challenge is to balance the realities of a shrinking membership and the possibilities of a renewing Holy Spirit. One colleague wonders on Twitter if there isn't a need for a lot more prayer at the heart of this transition, in order for there to be transformation.
We can hope and pray that Christ has not left the building, so to speak, and that the thousands of Christians gathered across the nation will be inspired by what unfolds. I was glad to hear that in Bay of Quinte approximately a third of attendees are children, youth, and young adults.
Any comments about these annual events? Thoughts and observations from those who took part in different locales?
3 comments:
I often wonder why traditional denominations seem to shrink while
"newer" ones (especially in my town) are on the rise.
What gives?
Rising secularism can't be the whole answer. That wouldn't explain the growth in other pockets. What is this shift?
Just recovering from what I would call a spirited and Spirited weekend with a gang of over 100 United Church Children, Youth and Young Adults participating in Bay of Quinte Conference Annual General Meeting and Youth Forums at Trent.
These kids from grade 6 and up are assigned seating amidst the 200 some adults gathered in the courts and become part of the discussion in many of the agenda items covered in the agenda. We do have the privilege of moving in and out of the courts, for games of capture the flag in the field or youth related programming but
the reason we are there is to be a part of the decisions
being made.
This year we joined in on the Comprehensive Review
discussions, and even had a member of that committee
spend an hour and half with just the Youth. The
statistics weren't sugar coated and surprising and scary
to some of our young but I believe they do need to
know the work that is ahead to keep us a relevant
institution into their generation.
They offered their vision of church and faith-giving activity as young Christians. I do think the UC best listen well...for their ideas are the bridge to rebuilding a
passionate body of believers and finding our collective
faith again.
Rev Michael Blair, the guest speaker and preacher, was
inspiring....he reminded us that we didn't so much have
a money problem but a faith problem...as you eluded to in your blog...we do seem to disconnect the Spirit from
our work and living at times both as individuals and as
a church.
These young folk crawled out of bed before 6 on Sat
morning to attend a Sunrise Service held by an
aboriginal elder. It was filled with Spirit as we joined in
preparing for our day ,standing with Christian friends, in dewy ,grass by a campfire, remembering the gift and
responsibility and possibility of a new day together. It seemed very appropriate to the place we find ourselves as a church.
Sunday morning Michael Blair shared with a poem by Oscar Romero called " A Future Not Our Own" which
reminded us that we are the workers, not the Master
builder and prophets of a future not our own.
As I witness these kids, my own included, engaged and
thriving in this faithful attention today to their church I pray we will listen to the Holy Spirit working in them and
let go of our fear of change and watch God at work in the transformation.
My apologies for the wordiness.....just wish I could bottle the experience and share with those UC members, active or not, to know the energy of these possibilities if we were to move forward together.
Please don't apologize, Laura!
I learned more about Jake's weekend from reading this, than I did from his summary to me.
To be honest, I was quite impressed by the effect that the weekend had on our son. For anyone who knows him, you know that he's not shy.. but he came back on Sunday evening in a state of awe. He didn't come back full of stories about the shenanigans that usually come with having a group of kids together, but he came back with some very thoughtful comments that showed his newer appreciation for the bigger picture of what the United Church means to him. I could hear the pride in his voice and his surprise at some of the discussions and debates he was witness to. He learned a lot about "agreeing to disagree" and more than anything, I'd say he grew up a little this weekend. What a wonderful experience.
Thank you, Laura - for your tireless efforts with our kids and the freedom you give them to be themselves, while learning at the same time.
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