Friday, June 1, 2012

Going Public

I'm launching into a new form of of public ministry.


Here is the introduction:
The discipline of ministry as a preacher requires time... lots of time... to read... mark... and inwardly digest the texts for the preacher first, as they speak to the preacher. Only then can the preacher continue to the next level and ask what the Spirit might be saying to others through the text.

Once I accepted the call to a public ministry of preaching which God extended to me, I fell in love with the whole process. During the four years that I served as solo pastor of a congregation I never tired of the preparation which included much time in prayer, and reflection. The joy in offering encouragement, food for thought, and a Word which others felt spoke directly to them never faded.

After nearly three years without a location demanding weekly preparation on my part, I have begun to fear I would loose the ability to think beyond the first level of personal application. With that also, is my fear of failing to employ the gift God entrusted to me, not for my benefit alone, but to bring healing, and hope to Gods' beloved people...You, whoever you may be.

This blog is written thinking of anyone who has been thinking that maybe there is something missing in their life, and that the thing that is missing can be found through the reading of the Scriptures of Christianity. I'm not intending to write sermons, nor am I writing to help other preachers. I'm writing for the inquiring hearts and minds of people looking for inspiration and authentic reflection on the texts that are used week by week around the world by churches that use the Revised Common Lectionary.

Whether you where once a member of a church or never even once have visited any Christian worship service but might want to do so now this will be a place for you to "hear" how a progressive Christian, an Episcopalian with a Wesleyan bent, reflects and finds relevance in scripture today.

It could only be enhanced if you and I met face to face from time to time. Only because the spiritual life as Jesus lived it was always a communion of friends, at table, at prayer, in the countryside and at the temple.

The Christian life is a life lived fully in community.
So find me every week at my new blog