A ministry of presence

 “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”  --  Luke 14: 11

 The ministry of St. Andrew’s with children, youth, and families exists to ________ so that __________.

 This was a prompt I was presented with in a recent online continuing education class. I admit it made me a little impatient. I guess, in retrospect, I had come to the webinar looking for easy answers. Instead, I found myself in the midst of a miniature existential crisis with 25 other Zoom participants. The humble shall be exalted, indeed!

 After some deep breaths, I came up with several versions of how I would fill in those blanks, but I would be interested in yours. There are certainly multiple “right” answers.

 As we start this new program year at St. Andrew’s, I’m mindful that we have roughly seven children who have aged out of children’s chapel and are being launched into the larger ministry of the church. They’ll still have some time to meet as a cohort, but more time in worship and ministry alongside adults. How will we continue to form them in their faith, now that their official time in children’s chapel has come to an end? What does it look like in the 21st century to be a church that forms people in faith at all stages of life?

 What forms people in faith, anyways? Is it being surrounded by people with an impeccable knowledge of the Bible? Is it a church family that has a quick answer for every hard question? Turns out we have actual data on this and the answer is a hard “no”. Instead, it is your faith that forms another’s. “Faith is caught, not taught,” is an adage you may have heard that holds true. Think back in your life to a time you noticed someone with unquenchable joy or ease and you thought to yourself, “I want that.” In that person’s demeanor they telegraphed, “Come and see,” and you did. Oftentimes it comes from a person who isn’t larger-than-life or otherwise gregarious and magnanimous… just a regular person trying to figure out life, with enough humility to invite God to work through them. Perhaps it was someone who was willing to be vulnerable in a way that broke open something inside yourself, or someone who saw you in a way you had been longing to be seen. Perhaps one of these simple, humble interactions is what gets your butt in the pew every Sunday even to this day.

 That’s what we’re trying to share with the children and youth at St. Andrew’s. It’s huge but simple at the same time. A ministry of presence, not answers.  A demonstration of faith, not perfection. A willingness to let God’s love flow through you, that it might reach another.

 We don’t know what the next 50 years of Christianity is going to look like. If the children who come through St. Andrew’s know how to talk to God and how to see God at work in the world (and join in!) then maybe we’ve definitely done something right.

 - Ginny Chilton, Supervisor of Children's & Youth Ministry

Prophets of a Future Not Our Own

 Dear friends,

 All of the lessons this past Sunday, August 10, addressed the issue of faith—especially what it is and how to hold onto it in times of disappointment or despair.  As encouragement to Christians whose hope was flagging (Christ had not yet come again; they were being persecuted), the author of Hebrews produced a list of famous Old Testament characters who showed faith even when times were hard.  The writer stresses that one component of faith is having hope for God’s promises to be fulfilled in the future:  All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them…  (Hebrews 11:13).

Pondering and praying about Sunday’s readings, I was reminded of a prayer I love that is often attributed to Archbishop Oscar Romero but was actually written by an American Bishop, Ken Untener, in 1979:

Prophets of a Future Not Our Own

It helps, now and then,
to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
 it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime
only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise
that is God's work.

Nothing we do is complete,
 which is a way of
saying that the Kingdom
always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,

knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces
 far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything,
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning,
a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter
 and do the rest.

We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers,
not master builders;
ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future
not our own.

Friends, keep the faith.  Every blessing.  -Anne