To the people of God on the way to the promised end,
Today is a very special day in the life of the Pilgrim worshipping community as we welcome Reverend Peter Walker from the Uniting Theological College to talk about the nature and purpose of the church and our commitment together as Christian community as we celebrate those in our midst who have heard the call to serve God as elders within this part of the Wagga Wagga congregation:
in prayer and discernment,
welcoming and caring,
teaching and silence,
visitation and leading,
pruning and planting,
building and support,
and, always, in encouraging our hope and love as we participate in God’s saving grace in the world.
I have to admit that sometimes I worry about what we worry about as Church – our mesmerisation by narratives of decline to borrow a phrase from a well-known commentator on the Basis of Union.
Our preoccupation with the work of constitution, organisation, funding and administration to enable the work of reconciliation and renewal can, easily, become an end itself, rather than the means to making tangible in people’s everyday here-and-now lives the vision of God’s promised end.
As the Gospel brings us a challenge today I pray, for these elders and for us all, a preoccupation in 2020 with seeking God, building deeper connections, imagining new forms of worship and mission, and encouraging all people to participate in a way which brings eternal glory to Christ Jesus.
“Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? … But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”
Matthew 6:25b and 33
Yours in Christ
Yvonne