“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.” – Fr. Ken Untener
Something I’ve been hearing a lot is that we are living in unprecedented times. Whether it’s politics, the climate, the Church, or trends in society I’m struck by how much of it is described as unprecedented. It can be overwhelming when everything is new territory. Frankly it is exhausting living in unprecedented times!
Something I’ve found helpful is to try and take a long view. I’ve noticed that at almost every point in history people have felt that they were living through unprecedented times! At every major shift in human development, during every period of tumultuous change, over and over again and around the world people have experienced the times they were living through as being unprecedented. So, there is a precedent for feeling everything is unprecedented! I take some comfort in knowing that I’m not alone in struggling to navigate unprecedented times. I can look to others past and present and know that we are all trying to find our way.
As our Regional Council seeks to find our way forward we look to the members of our community for vision and leadership. There are two positions that the Nominations Team is looking to fill. We hope to find candidates who are comfortable with taking a long view :
- The Council of Elders is looking for someone who has an interest in looking at the big picture in decision making.
- The Nominations Team is looking for a candidate who is comfortable encouraging others into roles of leadership.
The Expression of Interest form will be open from September 1st to September 26th. You can find it below.
Thank you,
Rev. Ned Wells, Chair of the Nominations Team
If you have any questions about these positions, or other opportunities to volunteer with the Region please email me at minister@faithunited.ca. The quote above is from this prayer that you may have heard referred to as the Oscar Romero prayer. I thought it would be appropriate to share it with you in full as you pray for the volunteers and leaders in your own communities of faith.
Prophets of a Future Not Our Own
Fr. Ken Untener
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.