 |
Jason
Lee Memorial United Methodist Church Blackfoot, Idaho Sunday school 9:30 Worship 10:30 a.m. |
 |
Gay's Grace Notes
AUGUST 2008 “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls A few years ago, not too long after I was appointed to serve as your pastor, I entered the two year Academy for Spiritual Formation. Four times a year the participants gathered at Mercy Center near San Francisco for five days of talks by renowned experts in spiritual formation, for worship, silence, reflection, and sharing with our assigned covenant group. When those five day gatherings included a Sunday, I was absent from the pulpit, and gifted lay speakers stepped up to preach and lead worship. The two thrusts of the Academy: to deepen and strengthen one’s personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and to empower one’s ministry to the church and community bore fruit in my life and ministry. My devotional life—my life in the Spirit— was renewed, strengthened and I discovered new practices and understandings. You, the church, have been nourished by the fruit of my experience in the Academy as I shared in worship and small group studies the way God is working in my life and desires to work in yours. The community, too, was nourished as I took on more responsibility within the Blackfoot Ministerial Association and initiated some procedures for providing help for those in need. A year or so following the end of my two year Academy experience, I was invited by the Upper Room to participate in Companions in Ministry. Fifty clergy from various denominations were chosen to gather in Nashville two or three times a year, for five days each, for two years. The focus of this pilot program was to help clergy make spiritual formation a central part of congregational life. One of the requirements for Companions was to make a pilgrimage. Boyd and I were blessed to travel to France where we spent a week at Taizé. Sometimes I missed a Sunday in the pulpit because of my travel schedule and meeting times. I was deeply enriched by Companions, and you have received much nourishment from the fruit that matured through my experiences. Now I am serving the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference as the chair of the Board of Ordained Ministry. This board is charged with the nurturing, equipping, encouraging, and occasionally disciplining clergy from call to candidacy and on through ordination to retirement. It is a massive task, often joyous, sometimes heart-breaking. I am humbled, and somewhat overwhelmed, to serve as the chair. During one prayer time when I was despairing of being able to provide the leadership necessary for this task, God gently reminded me that the one most important gift I bring is the same gift that drew me into ministry, encouraged me through seminary and ordination, motivates me to preach and teach, worship and work. This gift is nurtured and matured through the people I serve, through the Academy and Companions, by the practice of ministry. This gift is a deep and abiding faith and trust in God, a longing for union with Jesus Christ, and an assurance in the continuing work of the Holy Spirit to recreate me in the image of Christ. I long for you to be fed by this gift and trust that God gifts you through the Holy Spirit that we may be the Body of Christ. I will travel as I perform my duties. Many meetings will be at our conference office in Portland. I will also be receiving training such as the ones in Nashville and Phoenix during the next month. I will miss some Sundays in the pulpit. And you will continue to thrive because God equips you for ministry in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit. Grace and peace, Gay Do no harm Do good Stay in love with God |