A Tree of Life Lament

Christ, in your mercy, hear our confession…

I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! 

… God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. (Romans 11:1-2)

For complicity in a culture of anger…

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters… 

all Israel will be saved. (Romans 11:25-26)

For complicity in systems of violence…

As far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 

 for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. (Romans 11:28-29)

For allowing our salt to lose its saltiness and hiding our light under a bushel…

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

…For from him and through him and for him are all things.

To him be the glory forever! Amen.  (Romans 11:33, 36)

Lord, have mercy! Christ, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief.

Do justly, now.

Love mercy, now.

Walk humbly, now.

You are not obligated to complete the work,

but neither are you free to abandon it. (Talmud)

Shalom,

Brad Munroe

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

The Big Event- The Three-Legged Stool: Leg One

Lebron James! Kawhi Leonard! Lance Stephenson? As a Lakers fan, these names mean something to me: excitement, interest, and intrigue. They suggest the long-dormant play-off hopes for my favorite team are, officially, revived. For those of you who don’t recognize these names, I am talking about basketball. It’s the off-season and these are some of the players the L.A. Lakers have added – or would like to add – to the team.

Every organization has an off-season: for CPAs it is after April 15^th, for teachers it is the summer, for churches, too, it is the summer. For most people, the off-season is a time to rest, slow one’s pace down a bit, take a vacation. All this is good and necessary, as every organization needs time to breathe in a slower rhythm. However, if this is all one does, the off-season is wasted, for, like the Lakers, the off-season is also the time to get ready to compete, to improve, to prepare to thrive.

For the churches of our presbytery, we have an off-season improvement opportunity: The Big Event. The Big Event is one of our combined presbytery meetings, so there will be some necessary business, but the real action comes through the 26 workshops offered. Each of these workshops is designed to help church leaders prepare their flock for the work of ministry. Each year, we organize around the notion of a three-legged stool: spiritual formation, church formation, and mission formation. Admittedly, the categories overlap and the boundaries between them is blurred in most cases; however, it helps us plan a balanced feast of offerings.

This year, as you might expect, our spiritual formation offerings focus on the Thrive Project:

1.      Overview of Thrive, Rev. Kathryn Threadgill, PC(USA) Program Facilitator

2.      Cultivating Life-Long Discipleship - Rev. Pete Seiferth

3.      How to “Send Us Out” Instead of “How Do We Bring Them In?” - Revs. Kristen and Brandon Willett

4.      Incarnationalism: The Church in the Public Square - Rev. Eric Ledermann

5.      Empowering Servant Leadership - Rev. Carla Williams

6.      Care Model: A Vital Sign of a Healthy Congregation - Rev. Linda Lloyd

7.      Spirit-Inspired Worship: The Heart of a Thriving Congregation - Rev. Rachel Srubas

8.      Improving Church Communication- Doing without Triangles! - Rev. Ed Spence

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. 

In reality, we all know there is no off-season in the Christian life. There are always children to protect, justice to proclaim, future disciples to invite, prayers to lift up, and the Lord’s work to do. So let’s not take the metaphor too far…just far enough that you register yourself for – and invite a friend to – The Big Event!

Grace and peace,

Brad Munroe

Voiced and Voiceless: Mary and Elizabeth

Christmas begins in the Word.

In the beginning was the Word.

The Word was with God and was God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelled among us.

But in the Mystery of God some words are not spoken:

Zechariah is silenced and Joseph says nary a nary.

In the Gospels the Patriarchy are forced to listen;

the powerful endure the fate of those whose lives they too often control.

In the Gospels it is the Voiceless who spoke first and who spoke most clearly:

Elizabeth, the very first “Christian,” exclaimed,

Mary, sang the song for the ages:

The Reign of God inbreaking through social reversal.

Can we move beyond the need for #MeToo?

What will it take to nurture a sacred silence among we who have everything?

How can we give voice to the Voiceless?

Will we listen to Elizabeth exclaim and Mary sing this Advent?

Awaiting Christ’s Return,

Brad Munroe

In the Beginning…Silence

In the beginning was the Silence,

Brooding over tumult,

Hovering amidst insanity,

Waiting, waiting, waiting.       

The Silence was with God and the Silence was God,

Millennia of cacophonous drumbeat,

Steady march of polarization,

Waiting, waiting, waiting.

In Silence is life, and that life is the light of all,

Mystery of angel visitations,

Shepherd surprise, celestial chorus, darkness of night,

Waiting, waiting, waiting.

The Silence speaks into the Noise and the Noise cannot overcome,

Be-attitudes on a mountain,

The sacred in common story,

Waiting and listening, listening and waiting.

The Silence becomes Word and dwells among us,

Accepting leper touch,

Receiving Syro-Phoenician rebuke,

Incarnating Word that silences all other speech but praise.

Advent hoping for all y’all,

Brad Munroe

Presbytery Mission Funding: Call for 2018 Grant Applications

Given the new wineskin of the Presbytery of Grand Canyon – less churches, decreased funding, enormous budget deficit – new wine of vision and mission is required. Even with these challenges, our congregations have risen to the challenge and funded not only our Native American churches’ insurance, but also our historic mission partners:

·         Our three Hispanic churches: Betania, Guadalupe, and Memorial,

·         Our two campus ministries: UKirk ASU and NAU,

·         Montlure camping ministries,

·         Arizona Faith Network, the state’s leading ecumenical ministry

This month we the presbytery – you! – was able to share another $19,500 (on $80,000 of requests) to the following six ministries:

·         Gila Crossing to develop a website and other online communication technologies,

·         Tseyi Bidaa to build a handicap accessible ramp,

·         Crosswinds to promote a community outreach festival,

·         First Mesa to support an outreach VBS in Chinle,

·         Native American outreach to promote at GA mission trips on the reservation,

·         Native American coordinator to serve as a liaison to churches wanting to do mission trips.

The 2018 round of grant applications is now upon us! The presbytery will disburse approximately $58,000 for the first round of mission giving. Click here to find the application for this year’s grants. We encourage ministries to apply for support for the following categories of ministry:

·         Congregational development and collaboration among congregations

·         Starting new worshiping communities

·         Supporting regional programs

Mission Funding applications are due December 15, with grant awards made by the Congregational Resourcing Team in early January.

Together in Christ,

Brad Munroe

A Reflection

“Thoughts and prayers, thoughts and prayers, tsk, tsk.”

            “Yes, but what about action?”

            “Oh, no, that would be too controversial. Just thoughts and prayers, please.”

            “But thoughts and prayers don’t seem to be changing anything. This keeps happening – over                        and over and over. Isn’t it time for action, please?!”

            “Perhaps we should all just think harder and pray more?”

            “When will it be time to do something?!”

            “No, no, no thank you. I see you’re getting all riled up. Perhaps we need to change the                                   subject.”

            “Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers….”

No words,

Brad Munroe