Ethnic Ministries in the Episcopal Church

One of the resolutions assigned to my committee (Legislative Committee #14 Formation and Discipleship) is A055 Develop MulticulturalMinistry Pathways. We had a hearing on it today and heard testimony by those doing Black, Indigenous, AsiaAmerica, and Hispanic/Latino Ministries. 

Reflecting on Evangelism Matters

A regular scene during Evangelism Matters.

WOW! What can I say but that was one spirit-filled, Episcopal, Jesus love-fest. (If you haven't heard of Evangelism Matters, learn more at evangelismmatters.org. 400 people from all over The Episcopal Church met together for 4 days in Cleveland, Ohio. They describe it as "for those seeking to share, learn, and grow the Church’s capacity and passion for evangelism.") First, I wouldn't call this a conference but a gathering or think tank. There were some practical workshops but where I really saw the Spirit moving was in the connections and collaborations being made.

Mortality and Humanity

Last night, the great Valentine's day sugar crash combined with a late Ash Wednesday service was not the finest hour in the McKellar household. After a day of horrible news and two Ash Wednesday services to contemplate my and my children's mortality, I was unsettled.

I know from talking to friends that I wasn't the only one. Humanity needed a win. Charleston had been rocked by the story of a 4 year old who had been abducted. Her mom was beat up by an "unwanted guest" (the full details of the story are not all public) and was found after she didn't pick up two of her children from school. But Heidi wasn't there. They didn't know if she had been taken, hid somewhere, or had wandered into the lake in their neighborhood. It was all so upsetting. Charleston is a small enough town that I knew people in their neighborhood who helped with the search. That night, the news broke into the Olympics to tell us that she had been found in Alabama and was unharmed. Humanity got a win. It doesn't take away from our sorrow for the students in Florida or the desperate need for a serious look at our gun control laws that is many years past due.

In the middle of the night, my 6 year old crawled in to sleep with us which hasn't happened in a long time. Normally I would have moved her back to her bed but I didn't mind having an extra few hours to be near her. I don't know how many more times she will do that and after contemplating her mortality at church, I think snuggles were in order for both of us.

Just as Mr. Rogers said "Look for the helpers.", I recommend looking for the good.

Doing Lent Differently

So you've given up chocolate or Facebook or alcohol for the last bazillion years. It feels good to take a break from something and reach that goal of making it through a whole 40 days (plus Sundays if you are like me and think partaking on Sundays is cheating but I am open for others to make their own decisions about that). I will admit that I am a recovering overachiever when it comes to Lent. I have been known to give up 3 or 4 things and take on 2 more. That is NOT the point of Lent. But through all of my massive amounts of Lenten disciplines, I have a few ideas of things that offer a more positive journey through Lent - taking on reading the Bible, helping your community, learning about saints.

Identity

I was visiting a parish last night that is in transition (meaning they currently have an interim priest and are in the process of calling their next rector). They expressed fear over losing their identity. It manifested in some other ways but really came down to that they don't want to change who they are.

I like to say that The Episcopal Church wants you to become your best self and supports you in that. I also can then extrapolate that they want our churches to be their best selves as well. But we don't determine what that best self is. Every church is different as every person is different. We are better by our diversity of styles, theology, demographic makeup, etc... So each church needs to be listening for the Holy Spirit to manifest what that best self is. And it changes so keep listening!