Tuesday, July 24, 2018

The Big Event: Mission Formation Workshops


What’s different today? Why is it that our nation, our communities, our congregations, and even our families find it so difficult to have conversations? Has social media made us incapable of nuanced thinking or merely incapable of civil conversation?

I find these questions impacting our congregations: no one wants a knock-down, drag-out fight over Sunday morning coffee. Fear of division often leads us to avoid dialogue. Is it inevitable that our polarized times means the end of meaningful debate regarding the call to social witness?

            Not so fast.

Mack Sigmon, pastor of Trinity Presbyterian in Tucson, has penned some polarities that describe how we as Presbyterians might engage one another even when we disagree. Mack is proposing signage for Trinity’s exterior that says, among other couplets,
We proclaim justice, not politics
We are diverse, not divisive
We believe in interpretation, not conformity
We believe in grace, not judgment.

I am intrigued by these couplets! Can we engage social witness as a search for justice and not devolve into “I hope my team wins” politics? Can we appreciate diversity of argumentation without it necessarily being divisive? Can we frame our answers to the questions, “What, then, shall we do? And what does the Lord require of us?” as good faith efforts at interpretation rather than press the need for conformity of thought or action? Can we do all this as a response to God’s grace, in a spirit of graciousness toward all, without joining the choruses of judgment so common on social media?

The answer to the above questions is, “Yes, we can; therefore, we shall.” To this end, the Big Event will offer eight mission formation workshops:
1.      How Do We Lead Our Congregations Towards Christian Anti-Racism?
2.      Native American Partnerships
3.      Left Behind Immigration Stories: How the Church play a proactive role to support families
4.      Opioid Health Crisis: Equipping our Faith Communities to Respond
5.      Effects of Pornography on Youth and Adults: Connecting Porn to Global Human Trafficking
6.      Are We Really Ending Hunger and Poverty? Strategies for Ministry
7.      Understanding the Doctrine of Discovery: Seeking Reconciliation and Healing
8.      Disaster Preparedness Planning: Out of Chaos - Hope
We offer these mission formation workshops because the world is a chaotic place right now; it needs us to be salt and light, to proclaim the Reign of God, to announce liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
To register for The Big Event, CLICK HERE To register for the Ignite the Spark, which will focus on the Thrive Project and be led by the Rev. Kathryn Threadgill, CLICK HERE.

Register now…well, I’m waiting…come on already 😉,
Brad Munroe

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