Hope and Possibility

As I continue to meander through the wonderful Pentecost story with my congregation, I’m late posting this week because I’ve been playing catchup watching recordings of the sessions of General Assembly, the national annual gathering of leaders in the Presbyterian Church in Canada. It has been, as always, an inspiring, if at times tedious, experience, filled with Robert’s Rules and amendments to amendments of motions.

It was a historic General Assembly with our first Indigenous Moderator presiding. She taught us all some Cree and was so gracious and welcoming, despite the historic tensions between First Nations people and settlers and the abuse done in residential schools and other arenas. The Assembly included an apology to members in the Church who have encountered racism, which follows the apology made last year to LGBTQI+ people. Both apologies were made after a committee was assigned the task of listening and better understanding how to bring healing to those wounded by the church.

There was also time for sessions of “Hope and Possibility” to reflect on where we’re at as a denomination and in our Presbyteries and congregations. Our Principal Clerk used the African proverb that “A falling tree makes more noise than a growing forest” and invited everyone to reflect on how falling trees aren’t necessarily the most important ones around us. He remarked that there may be more falling trees than we care to admit, but is there growth underneath and what is growing? What is our story and what stories of hope and possibility are there in our congregations and denomination? Where is prophetic imagination and risk taking place?

As you can tell, I took notes. I hope to have some of these conversations with my congregation. We have already been talking about where new life is emerging after so much loss and separation. We are starting to look outside ourselves and to hopefully listen more closely to the Holy Spirit as to what we are called to do next to serve and grow together. At General Assembly the invitation was made to start with story and then consider what structure would be helpful in embracing our current stories and God’s leading. Too often we hold on tightly to structures that no longer serve us.

So, I might just leave it there and let this post be brought to you by General Assembly 2023. I hope that these ideas inspire and challenge you as much as they did me. I pray that we all are open to releasing our prophetic imagination, and to risk and innovation after listening carefully for the Spirit’s wisdom and guidance. I pray that we can celebrate our stories, even those of pain, that we might be able to recognize how God was present and carrying us through. Let’s look for what is growing underneath our forest wherever we are.