Part one.
A friend of mine from Vancouver is an artist. He told me many years ago that “the problem with the church is that it’s full of engineers”. I have no idea what that means. Maybe I’m an engineer.
So last night there was a meeting of the sol café to try to discern, to listen, to tell stories, to learn to love God and neighbour. I suppose I could try to drive up my hit meter by typing words like “emerging church”, “emergent”, “post modern paradigms”, “alternative worship” and the like. There, I’ve gotten that out of the way, so I’ll see how many visitors Google sends my way.
As an open letter to the sol café, let me offer the following. There were many good points raised at the family meeting. The thing that strikes me the most is the sense that there are some unused gifts in the sol café. I came away from last night’s meeting thinking that there are a number of people with gifts to share, and the community needs to see those gifts in action. I believe the combination of diverse gifts is the great strength of this group.
A while ago I was the priest of a church community north of Edmonton. In the process of moving from that community, I had a chance to hear some feedback from people who had experienced God in that setting. One comment struck me more than others. People were at one point relating what they appreciated about my ministry there. I wasn’t present for this conversation, but heard bits of it afterward.
What did I think was my greatest contribution to that community? My preaching? My music? My humility, all round great personality, being a snappy dresser? I heard afterward what members of the congregation thought was most important. “Everyone's gifts were being used”. That’s it. That’s the key. It was not about my gifts or my skills, it was about helping other people discover and use their gifts. It was not about what I had to offer, it was about what the people of God had to offer. (I still think I’m one of the better preachers and music leaders around…ha!). So as a starting point, let me focus today on the gifts of others. To help them, encourage them, see them used for the glory of God and the building up of the Church.
Leadership needs to focus on helping people discover and use and enjoy their gifts.
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