Ideas and my calling

So ideas. Over the years I've had a lot of ideas and these ideas are not (usually) just whims or things I think would be fun. 

Though occasionally they are and those ideas tend not to make it through any significant discernment process. 

In a lot of ways I sense that these ideas grow out of the central part of my calling as a minister. During my time at seminary I really came to see the essence of my calling as being one of resourcing others. Basically finding or providing information or tools that help people to meet God and/or to fulfill their callings. It has become obvious to me that almost all of the ideas that I get fall under this umbrella of resourcer or facilitator.It is in this capacity that I connect with Fredrick Buechner's famous quote that "The place God calls you to is where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."

And while I continually seek the guidance of the Spirit in my imaginings and in my calling generally, I also recognize my own ego in this process which is why I believe so strongly in community discernment. Some of the ideas that will follow are only in the very beginning stages, others have gone through considerable community discernment and others I have already had the privilege of sharing in ministry settings. In many ways the list that follows is simply a list of what I feel that I can offer my church community, a list of what I would love to share and experience with other believers of all ages. 

Prayer retreats for children and adults: retreats can be such a gift in a world that is so busy, crowded, and often devoid of space to breathe. It is amazing watching young children learn to embrace silence, meditation, and active prayer. 

Individual Spiritual guidance for children: while I am not a trained spiritual director, I have engaged in individual spiritual guidance with children where we learn ways of connecting with God and reflect on where they see God at work or present in their own lives. These sessions have been some of the most precious for me. 

Pastoral Care for children: This is a part of where my heart lies. We in the church often offer care to adults who are grieving and assume that they will then be able to care for their children. Yet in many cases it is not possible for a grieving adult to care for a very differently grieving child. Realistically, sometimes parents are too broken to carry their children. The church has the privilege of walking with individuals of all ages. 

Wondering about Worship classes: What does worship mean in our churches? All churches have liturgy, we all have worship patterns and explicit or implicit understandings of what various worship movements mean. Yet worship can simply float right past us when we don't actually understand what we are doing, to whom our voices are directed, the importance of certain worship movements even if we don't enjoy them. What does it mean to include confession and assurance in our services, what does it mean, or what do we learn, if we never include such prayers? And does it make a difference in how children participate in worship if they understand what we are doing and why, and better yet, if they have had the opportunity to help plan worship? Young children have the ability to choose songs, to write prayers, to invite others into worship. Worship is not a spectator sport, not for adults, and not for children.

Together we Pray Classes: Praying and talking about faith with children is often something that we, the church, just assume parents do with their children. It is often something we are also critical of families for not doing more. However, I have the sense that we have not equipped parents in this regard. Many parents I know recognize that children have various learning styles, that we all do and that means that in school various styles should be represented and appreciated. The same is true with prayer and spiritual practices. How many parents know that there are dozens of ways to engage in prayer and faith formation with their children? how many parents don't know where to start when talking about God with their child. A class like this brings together the parent and child/children to experience common biblical stories, to talk about faith together, and to learn prayer practices together. Common faith/prayer experiences allow parents and children to learn to walk as disciples together. 

Children’s Spirituality resourcing: I am passionate about children's Bible story books, other faith story books, spiritual practice resources, story telling, rituals etc. When I worked at the AMBS bookstore resourcing pastors, parents and other individuals was one of the most life-giving aspects of my work.

Basic introduction to the Christian Year sessions: Many Mennonite churches have in recent decades come to embrace Advent, and many now observe Lent as well. However,  many people I meet have very little idea of what those seasons mean or what benefit observing the Christian year might have for congregations. Many people find Advent to be too much waiting and Lent too somber. However, Advent is meant to prepare us not for one gluttonous feast on Christmas day, but for the Christmas season which ends with Epiphany. And Lent, which is long and often somber is to culminate in the Easter Season. What does it mean to fast but not to allow ourselves to fully enter into the season of feasting that is to follow? And not only does the Christian year have seasons of feasting and fasting, but each season also has ebbs and flows as well. Emotionally there is room for movement in Advent, for longing, for wondering, for joy, for pain etc. Planning worship in a church that uses some seasons of the Christian year, but not others or where the meaning of such seasons are unclear can be a challenge that for some is just frustrating. 

Soul and Voice: I had the opportunity at AMBS of participating in a class called Soul and Voice. While part of this class was about singing (and singing is not my forte), much of the class was simply about learning to stand and speak, comfortable in one's own skin. It was about finding voice, recognizing the voice God has placed within each of us and overcoming the fear of speaking (as well as singing or moving) that can hinder us in living into the calling that God has placed within each of us. This type of class can be a ton of fun, even if it is sometimes a bit scary. I would love to offer something like this for people (children included) who shy away from public speaking, or who simply have trouble standing firm, being rooted in their sense of self as God's child. I have met a lot of young children, especially girls who struggle with not being good enough or feeling comfortable in their own skin. Why wait to help these kids until they are in their 20's and 30's and are needing therapy in order to function in their daily leadership roles?

Reading club for young girls: Girls have tons of opportunity in Canadian society, yet there is still a significant pervasive story that almost every young girl learns. It is the princess story. The story of niceness, of prettiness, of romance. It is the story that tells us that we must be swept off of our feet and carried off into the sunset where life will be filled with hearts and roses and pink castles. It is the story that I believe creates a hopeless ideal that leads, in many cases, to perpetual dissatisfaction and divorce. Many have recognized that even young girls who are strong leaders, who are creative, intelligent, caring, and have the kind of imagination to change our world for the better give up their dreams in adolescence striving instead to be pretty and to find a boy who will like them (for who they really are not). This is not God's call on our daughter's lives. And though I do not have children, I believe firmly that the sons and daughters of our communities belong to all of us. We all have the responsibility to help them to live into their callings, and explicitly or implicitly teaching girls that life is about living in beautiful palaces, being romanced daily by a man with nothing better to do than to kiss our feet, looking pretty, and of course having explosive sex is doing violence to our children. It does violence to the girls, as well as to the boys who cannot hope to be the mushy romantic that the princess story calls for when they are simultaneously being taught to be Rambo (I have a whole other rant on this). Girls (and boys) can learn that relationships are about agape, about mutuality, about shared power, about imagination, about peace and reconciliation, about drawing out the best in others while at the same time drawing out the best in ourselves. I'm currently exploring a series of short midrash (stories about stories in the Bible) that are written from the perspective of women in the Bible. I'm not sure if these will be solid material to work with, but I'm curious and hopeful that someone may have written something that can help young girls to embrace their role as women in God's good creation who are not called to sit and look pretty, but to work towards the Kingdom of God. By the way, I am not in any way anti- the colour pink, or anti -marriage, or anti- mothering, or anti- taking care of one's physical appearance, but I think that all of these things have been unduly co opted by the princess myth.

Class on four types of spirituality: Spirituality can take many forms. We don't all come to know God in the same way. For some of us God is almost complete mystery, while others sense that God is quite knowable. Some of us connect more with our heads, with words, with ideas, while others are more affective. Some of us embrace doing, while others have the gift of hearing God's voice in the silence. And there is tremendous value for all of us to learn to know God in ways that we are most drawn to, and in ways that are quite the opposite in order to create the fullness of knowing that is a gift to the community.

Introduction to various spiritual practices like contemplative listening, Writing the Text, praying in colour, centering prayer, etc. etc. This is in many ways connected to the four types of spirituality: There are so many spiritual practices that we can engage in. Growing up I thought people just read the Bible and then talked to God saying thank you, and asking for things. There is so much more! I never understood why verbal prayers seemed empty to me until I learned to pray visually and with my imagination. I never saw what others got out of praying from a book until I tried it and learned the value of rhythm and thoughtful words. We can meet God through reading the Bible, but also through having it read to us, and through reading a section repeatedly listening for different things, and through writing the text out, and through illuminating that text with art. We can meet God through our words, in silence or out loud, in our imaginations, with our bodies, or with repeated breath prayers. We can communicate through painting, through praying in colour, and through dancing. We can pray with our feet by walking, or with our hands by laying them on someone in need. The possibilities which once seemed dull and limited, now appear vibrant and limitless. Why on earth should an artist whose heart cries out to God with every stroke of their brush feel guilt because they have not knelt and for 10 minutes laid out their litany of desires and thanks to God with words that to them are insufficient? Painting is not always prayer, but it certainly can be and it makes my heart ache to think of the number of people in the world who think that they are not good enough believers because they can't meet God in the ONE way that someone told them was the ONLY way. If God created us with such diversity and beauty and variation of gifts and expressions, surely God can hear/see/sense us likewise.

Yes, I talk a lot.