Partnership in the Gospel

I must tell you how overwhelmed with joy at I am. Being called to the Metropolitan Washington DC Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America I am also a part of the Fairfax Conference - which is a smaller geographical grouping of churches within the synod. The Fairfax Conference is a gift to me in my new ministry at Epiphany.

My previous experience with conferences (and one place where I have been they were referred to as clusters) was one of competition and idle rumor-milling. Truly, on internship I attented ONE cluster meeting - at which the Dean, myself, and my supervisor attended. No one else showed up and apparently that had been the case for quite some time. When I met the leaders of these congregations at synod events or continuing education endeavors, there was no real companionship or partnership - but rather a display of numbers and figures ("I baptized 6 people last month." or "We took in 12 new members the month before.") It boggled my mind, because I saw this group as a colleague group and yet it was a group of competitors vying for numbers and people, so as to appear "on top."

Additionally at other times I have attended conference/cluster text-study groups and anything but the texts of the week were studied. It was a bash session of "Oh, this member this..." or "Did you hear what XYZ did to his worship space?" It was petty, and while I so crave and need such a colleague group, I found soon-enough in each case that being a part of this group, even after sharing my concern (afterwhich I became seen as the goody-two-shoes), was not good stewardship of my time. So I soon quit attending these and turned to text-study on my own and online voices.

But things are quite different here. I don't know if it is the same across the synod, I pray so. But in the Fairfax Conference our calls are seen as partnerships. Our calls are seen as collaborative efforts. What I do in my parish may be beneficial for others, and so I share. The knowledge that I gain from conferences or readings might be what another pastor is seeking, so I offer that up. This is the Fairfax Conference. Our monthlt conference meetings are times of prayer, checking-in, and sharing of learning, resources, experience, etc...followed by a time of fellowship at a local restaurant that turns into much more sharing - sometimes personal, sometime professional.

Since beginning my call I have attended three of these meetings and all have been moments of gained knowledge and growing collegiality. I have felt supported by those who have been in the parish for a time, I have felt empowered and positively challenged by those who are new like me, and I have felt safe to ask questions, offer thoughts, or challenge others. This is such a joy and such a gift! It is a model of the body of Christ. None of us in this conference are perfect in person or in community, but we seek to proclaim the good news in all we do, and desire to learn more and help each other as we walk in faith.

This is a true gift and as Christmas time closes in, I am thankful for this great gift - the gift of true community, the gift of the full church, the gift of God's community of disciples.