We will be reporting on the Tip of the Iceberg of these conferences at our Congregational Luncheon following worship on Sunday, March 20. In the meantime I thought I'd share some background information with you here.
At the latter of these conferences our leader gave us a bibliography of some 80+ books that deal with the issues of a church that is healthy and relevant for today and, hopefully, for tomorrow. One of those books is: "A is for Abductive: The Language of the Emerging Church," by Leonard Sweet, Brian McLaren and Jerry Haselmayer. In his preface, Leonard Sweet says:
"Easter is all about dying into the new. This new world rings with biblical resonance; postmodern culture thrums with possibility. But only if we do more than dip a toe into the mystery of God's continuing incarnation story."
And in the introduction he says this book is a "primer." Primers are beginning books: ABC's for beginners ... trying to learn the first syllables of a new language. And that's us ... those who are realizing that the world has changed, a new language has emerged, and if we want to communicate, we need to speak it. So we have to start where we are, with what we know, embarking on the journey before us. And, where we are is "on the edge," between Past and Future, between Modern and Post-Postmodern ...
"And ~ you can't get from one place to another without going through a transition. Transitions imply endings and beginnings ~ some things come to and end, some things begin. Transitions are times of great creativity and change.
Transitions are renewing.""There is no more exciting time to be in ministry than now when the entire planet seems poised at the edge of a profound transformation. To paraphrase 2 Corinthians 6:2 'now is the time...' the time to live eternity in our moment. It's as simple as that. It's as exciting as that."
And, as Jerry Haselmayer said in his preface to the book: "Yes, it is difficult to let go of the familiar and change is often painful. The opposite is true as well. These are exciting times to be disciples! Think: For a moment, we get to be in the middle of a new thing God is doing. We get to experience in real time God's unfolding Story."
May God bless us on our journey through our transition!
In Christ's Service
Serena