The Last Sunday After the Epiphany
Listen to the Sermon for February 15, 2015
Read the Sermon for February 15, 2015
Tag: Interim Ministry
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One Last Look Through the Study Window
It has been awhile since I composed a Monday Message. This is not my last one, but it is the last one I will write from the spot I have enjoyed so much for the past twenty-two months by the big window in the study at the rectory. From this place, I have watched my friends the birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and deer gather at the feeders in the large English Oak tree. (If Bambi can think he's a skunk, I suppose these Cranbrook deer can think they are birds.) I have delighted in seeing the seasons change. I have marveled in the natural beauty of this place with all the trees and grass and flowers. I have observed people come and go from the parking lot to and from meetings, worship, study, service, and fellowship occasions at Christ Church Cranbrook. I have noticed the gardeners, craftsmen, contractors, and others as they care for these impressive buildings and gardens. It is a prime location from which to behold God’s world and God’s people!
Here, I’ve written Monday Messages, sermons, meeting agendas, lessons, letters of congratulations, appreciation, and condolence, and countless emails about our work together during this time of transition. It was here that I sat to edit and send the final draft of the announcement of the call of the person who will sit here after me. He will see many of the same things I see. Some things will look pretty much the same to him as they have to me. Other things will look completely different. That's becauase God in love and wisdom made us different people with different ways of seeing things. It is such differences that are woven together into a fabric that makes the Church strong and beautiful.
The window of the study is very large and it faces just the right direction, providing the best vantage point from which a Rector can see what's going on. I’ve often felt gratitude for such a generous gift. And I’ve often prayed for an even greater gift; that the window of my heart will be large and facing the right direction so that what I perceive with that vision will be guided by the Holy Spirit to make my ministry here faithful and fruitful. I’ve wanted to look through that window as I see the seasons change in your lives, as you come and go, as you do the work God has given you to do, and as you grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of God in Christ. I’ve seen some amazing things and I’ve watched you attempt and accomplish so much.
Together, we’ve looked at the heritage of this community of faith, the present day challenges and opportunities, the call to leadership, your relationship with your Bishop and the wider Church, and the future God sets before you with your new spiritual leader. Together, we’ve looked at ways to further the mission of the parish:
The mission of Christ Church Cranbrook is to
Learn the faith,
Live the faith,
Love the people in our midst, and
Spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.Through
Expansive Ministries with Children and Youth,
Challenging Adult Christian Formation,
Abundant Outreach,
Extravagant Hospitality,
Generous Stewardship, and
Intentional Leadership Development.The way I see it, both through the window in the rectory study and the window in my heart, we’ve accomplished great things for the advancement of God’s reign, the healing of hurts, the formation of lives, and for the future of the Christian faith.
The way I see it, you are ready to welcome your new Rector and his family to join you in a remarkable adventure of faith in which your role as the leading Episcopal Church in the state will be strengthened and your influence in the wider Church at home and abroad will make a significant difference.
The way I see it, the golden days in the life of Christ Church Cranbrook lie ahead of you and the greatest chapters in your testimony to our Savior Jesus Christ have yet to be written.
Next Sunday will be the last one I spend with you as your Interim Rector. Ironically, my last actual public service of worship will be a wedding at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 30. After that wedding, I’ll be removing my vestments as Fr. Bill Danaher is putting his on to celebrate his first Eucharist with you at 5:00 p.m. Talk about a “seamless transition!” Between now and then, I still have several things to finish, so you’ll be seeing me around.
Gay and I are still not certain where our next place of ministry will be. This is not unusual in transition ministry. We are in conversation with several persons and are confident that the right opportunity will soon be revealed. It is a time of discernment for us. Fr. Bill and the Wardens have graciously offered us the use of the Wolgast House for the next few weeks as we determine our next steps. Our hearts are filled with gratitude for you and for the time we’ve spent with you.
The way I see it, God is still bountiful, God’s people still seek his face, God’s world still needs the Church to be at its best, and the best is yet to be!
I’ll see you in Church!
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What in God’s Name is Going on Here?
That's the question The Rev. Dr. Rob Voyle asks whenever he walks into a church. Voyle is an Episcopal Priest, transitional minister, consultant, and leader of one of the top interim minister training programs. He explains the significance of his question in this description of the first time he asked it in a sermon at a church in transition:
What the question had raised in the minds of the people was the unintelligible gossip, or everything that was going on that was not in God's Name. What I am most interested in however is the real answer to the questions: Where is God at work in your midst? Where do you find God? Where do you see God acting in your life and in the lives of your fellow parishioners? Or in other words; What in God's name is going on here?
Voyle is a leader in the development and use of appreciative coaching in his work with clergy. He describes Appreciative Inquiry as a congregational development process:
Where the Church and its leaders are a mystery to be embraced rather than a problem to be solved. Our Purpose is to transform the Church from being a place of fear to a place of love, where duty and obligation become passion and delight, threat and intimidation are replaced by freedom and joy, and mediocrity is redeemed to competent excellence.
Appreciative Inquiry, founded by David Cooperrider, is the model Dr. Voyle uses in coaching clergy and congregational leaders. It is based on the idea of discovering what works and gives life to an organization and building on these life-giving properties.
This model follows a process of inquiry to discover people's best experience as a basis for imagining a future and designing the processes and structures that will make the imagined future a reality. In other words, it is a process that asks, "What in God's Name is going on here?" and concentrates on the discoveries in the lives of parishioners, rather than on problems or deficits. It is less prone to initiating a negative, blaming, and judgmental atmosphere. Or, in other words, it is NOT focused on what is going on that is NOT in God's Name!
Dr. Voyle describes Appreciative Inquiry as a five phase (5D) process:
1. Define: Committing to the Positive
2. Discover: Valuing the Best of What Is
3. Dream: Visioning the Ideal
4. Design: Dialoguing What Needs to Be
5. Deliver: Innovating What Will BeDr. Voyle is presenting a workshop, Appreciative Inquiry for Vestries and Church Leaders at several locations in the Midwest, including one sponsored by the Diocese of Kansas on April 24 at St. David's in Topeka. The Very Rev. Steve Lipscomb, Dean of Grace Cathedral in Topeka, says this workshop is designed for vestry members and church leaders of churches:
• wanting to discover their purpose and grow their sense of mission;
• in transition and are seeking new rectors;
• that need to embrace the future rather than run from the past; and
• that want to grow in the love and joy of being children of God.We have been quietly applying Appreciative Inquiry during this time of transition at Trinity Church in Lawrence, Kansas. In contrast to the old model of interim ministry as maintaining the status quo between rectors, we have been discovering places in the life of the parish where people are encountering God and opening hearts and minds to a future grounded in those positive faith experiences of its people.
I find it all very hopeful! "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jer. 29:11).
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Getting Started in Lawrence
Today was my first Sunday as Interim at Trinity Episcopal Church in Lawrence, Kansas. The Rev. Canon
Mary Siegmund, Canon to Bishop Dean E. Wolfe, and Ellen Tracy, Senior Warden, introduced me to the congregation during both morning services.
In addition to the usual parish duties of a rector, an interim is trained to help the congregation clarify its history, discover its present identity, equip its leadership, strengthen its ties to the wider church, and prepare to make a commitment to a new day in mission when the next rector is called. There will be numerous opportunities for members to tell their stories and I've already heard several remarkable ones. People have told me about how they were invited to be a part of Trinity sixty years ago, how they came to be married here, how they raised their family here, how they provided leadership after the edifice was destroyed by fire, and how the congregation shepherded them through a difficult time.And, speaking of stories, our organist and friend in Galveston, Ron Wyatt, is a remarkable musician. But his musicianship is exceeded by his senses of humor and irony. We've visited about this assignment numerous times over the past couple of months. Yet he never told me that his childhood piano teacher in Victoria, Texas is the longtime organist here, Elizabeth Stephens. Nor did he tell me that her husband, William J. Stephens, who is deceased, was his first organ teacher. I learned about that this morning. That rascall! He knows how to pull off a big surprise better than just about anybody I've ever known. He sat on that piece of information for over two months and enjoyed a big laugh when I called to tell him all about it this afternoon.Members of the parish and staff have given us a very generous welcome. Trinity is fortunate to have several priests who are engaged in other work but affiliated with the parish. Four of them vested and shared with me in the celebration this morning. Deacons, the curate, members of the vestry and others came on Wednesday to help us move into our new apartment. We are grateful for the hospitality!There will be a lot of work to do during this year of transition. In light of that, I've appointed a group of people to be in charge of fun. They will remind us from time to time that the Christian life is characterized by joy and help us avoid taking ourselves too seriously.The top priority of my ministry here is to provide leadership that will help Trinity and their next rector to have a fruitful ministry together. We are off to a very good start. Please keep us all in your prayers and check in from time to time to see what kind of epiphanies God is giving us as our eyes are opened to behold his hand at work among this faithful flock.