O Thou who camest from above, the fire celestial to impart
Kindle a flame of sacred love on the mean altar of my heart.
There let if for thy gory burn With inextinguishable blaze,
And trembling to its source return in humble prayer and fervent praise.
Jesus confirm my heart's desire to work and speak and think for thee;
Still let me guard the holy fire, and still stir up thy gift in me.
Ready for all thy perfect will, my acts of faith and love repeat,
Till death thy endless mercies seal and make the sacrifice complete.
Charles Wesley, 1762
An Annual Parish Meeting tends to be a corporate exercise in a historical enterprise, a looking back. We are required by canon and civil law to give an account of our stewardship. We will continue to do that. The reports elsewhere in this circular will give us that account. However, this year, I am calling our parish to go in a different direction. The majority of our time will be spent in a visioning process as we seek, by God's grace, to establish a road map for our mission over the next five years.
With the assistance of Fr. Isaac Kawuki-Mukasa, diocesan consultant for congregational development, we have designed a process to enable us in to look to the future. In this regard, my thanks to Maraval Odlum, Marie Green and Steve Clarke.
First, however, let me look back briefly and say thanks to all who shared in the administrative and ministry areas of our parish. Without them our work have be much more challenging. With this, I tender sincere thanks to my wife, Lucy, and sons, Marc and Luke and ALL who support this ministry.
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
The Goals of this year's Vestry meeting are outlined in the Agenda on page 2 of this convening circular. As we plan for the future, let us seek to understand the nature of our Christian vocation.
In the gospel story, Jesus approached some fishermen as they were going about their daily business of making a living. Not one of them was engaged in an activity that was particularly religious. Indeed, there is little indication that religion occupied much of their time or thought. They were engaged in the day-to-day necessity of providing food and shelter for themselves and their families. Jesus came to them, where they were, as they were. Out of his matchless Grace, he said to them, "Follow me" and, out of their nameless hunger and longing, they dropped what they were doing and followed.
Jesus' invitation, and the disciples' acceptance of it, marks the beginning of an adventure that continues to this day. Still, it is essential to know that when these men dropped their nets and went after Jesus, they had no illusions. There was not a starry-eyed dreamer in the whole group. There was ample evidence of the probable consequences of what they were undertaking. In fact, in one account of the gospel, it was around the time that John the Baptist was arrested that Jesus set about calling those who would follow him. (St. Matthew 4:12)
Jesus calls and people drop whatever they are doing to follow him. Jesus' invitation compels us because it issues out of God's love. Jesus' invitation calls us into community with God and with each other. It urges us to reach beyond ourselves, to risk pushing beyond the known, comfortable, limits. When we accept Jesus' invitation, we find that, along with all those who have gone before, we are transformed, and there is beauty in this transformation.
We follow because, among other things, we long to have our lives make sense. It is imperative for us to know that our lives have a purpose higher than ourselves. In and through Jesus, we see God's love mediated to us in new and compelling ways. God's love assures us that our lives do, in fact, have a higher purpose, higher even than we would ever dare to dream.
Let's be clear, however, Jesus does not first, or primarily, call us to do a particular job, or to fill a particular role. Our call as Christians is not initially for us, as it was not, initially, for the disciples, a call to work. It is, instead, a call to relationship. Jesus does not say, "do this," he says, "come and see," or "follow me." There is a big difference.
To respond to such a call for relationship, for intimacy, is very different from signing up to do a piece of work. (Just like falling in love is very different from serving together on a committee). To set out to do a job requires some clarity about what is involved, it is negotiable, it has its limits, you know what it looks like when the job is over, and so on. To be called into relationship-to be called to follow-that is to enter a mystery; it is to move out, full speed ahead, into uncharted darkness. Jesus simply says, "follow me." He calls us first to himself-to a personal intimacy and shared life. That is what matters, and that is to be central. Everything else is left behind
Those first disciples were not called to go somewhere in particular-they were called to go anywhere Jesus might lead. They were not called to renounce this thing or that thing, but to be able to walk away from anything and everything, for only then would they be free, only then would their lives fully belong to Jesus.
The disciples stayed close to Jesus for a while. They learned what they would and came to know him a little. Then, long before they thought they were ready, Jesus gave them jobs to do. For some, these jobs were dramatic, for others they were quiet and invisible. But the call to Jesus will always, in one form or another, find expression in ministry. But the call comes first. There can be no real, abiding, and sustaining ministry without relationship with Christ, without obedience to him as he calls us to himself.
This call comes to us, long before we are able to understand what it means. The prophet, Jeremiah, bears testimony. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5)
From the beginning of creation the children of God were called to share in the wonder and beauty of creation. They were called, not only to share, but also to be responsible for the day-to-day nurture of that creation. We too are called from the very beginning. For all, if not most of us, this call came in our baptism as children at the font.
We are called to be disciples. That call came with our baptism; and that call to relationship and ministry will haunt us, and track us down; it will trouble our sleep and whisper in our ears at the worst possible times. It will grow stronger and weaker and stronger again, it may seem to go away, but it always comes back. For, finally, it is the call to life, to joy, and to true peace. We gradually discover what we are called to do.
We are called to be witnesses. This was the message of the soon-to-be-ascended Christ. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8). When the disciples were hoping for the restoration of their past by asking the question "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" Jesus shifted the emphasis from speculation about the future to demonstration in the present. There was no way back to the past. Every heart and will had to be focused on the Kingdom work that loomed ahead. This work would only be possible by those who were prepared to share the story, those who were prepared to be witnesses to the story.
"You shall be my witnesses" can also read "you shall be my martyrs". We may not be cast into a lion's den, nor burnt at the stake. Today we exist in more humane conditions, but we should never cease to remember that we are called to walk a different path in this world. It is a path of the denial of self and selfishness for the Christ-like life. Remember the words of Christ himself, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me (St. Matthew 16:24). This is the sacrifice that those who are called to follow Christ make. We die to self and live to Christ. Indeed we are called, as witnesses, to spend ourselves for the sake of the kingdom.
We are called to be servants (ministers): "…whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." (St. Mark 10:43-45)
Our called to be witnesses demands of us more than empty words. In the court of law, all the witness is expected to do is to answer the questions, use words. We are called to do more than words. We are called to serve just as Christ served us. In was in his posture on his knees that he was able to look up and see the value of those he knew he had come to serve. When we find ourselves on our knees in service we look up and see the face of Jesus in the face of those whom we are serving. It is in serving that we see Jesus. It is in serving that we serve Jesus.
Jesus speaks to us about this in the gospel. "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me." (Matthew 25:35-36)
It is very easy for us to see the hunger, nakedness, thirst and estrangement in others. Do we see that hunger, nakedness, thirst and estrangement in ourselves? Inasmuch as we are servants to others in this broken state, we are also servants to ourselves as individuals or as a community of people called to follow Christ even as we suffer the pangs of hunger, nakedness, thirst and estrangement. So how about visiting ourselves through our own Christian Education programs and opportunities for fellowship and mutual growth?
We re called to share in the work of ministry: The great about being called by God is that we are not called to go it alone. The great Lawgiver, Moses, though called by God when he was alone, was not called to be alone. So the LORD said to Moses, "Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place there with you. I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people along with you so that you will not bear it all by yourself. (Numbers 11:16-17). This understanding of call arises out of our recognition that, in the words of Paul, "Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it" (1 Corinthians 11:27).
Paul, like the writer of the book of Numbers makes it very clear that every individual is called to share in this work offering his or her unique gift and talent. There is something each baptized member can do to make the functioning of the body more effective. We all depend on the other person to play his or her part. We are also reminded that there is no greater or lesser part, all varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:4-7)
We are called be faithful: "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." (St. Luke 9:62). On the way, we encounter many issues, experiences and persons that will make traveling difficult. There is always the temptation, whose lives are described in the Bible and to many of our time and in our community who did not give a second thought to completing the task to which they were called. Paul's testimony to the people of Philippi gives us a sense of that commitment, Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)
We are called to love: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." (St. John 1512). This perhaps the greatest "call" of all. This invitation to love is in the form of a mandate from the one who loved us more than we can ask or imagine. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you (St. John 15:13-14). The call to love is the call to reveal the very nature of God, for "God is love" (1 John 4:8). The call to love is the call to understand other and their needs. The call to love is the call to celebrate who we are by doing all we can to the glory of God who is Love. The call to love is the call to recognize the potential and gifts in others and to free them to discover that potential and their gifts which can be shared in the work of the kingdom, of which we are all witnesses. The call to love is to recognize that we are loved by God and are empowered to engage in every struggle against the evil one. The call to love is the call to forgive, just as we have been forgiven. We are all called to remain in this love for there is joy when we do. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete (St. John 15:9-11).
This joy is complete when we remember that whom God calls, God equips, whom God equips, God sends. Wee who are called are also equipped and gifted for the work. When Jesus called the disciples to be his witnesses on the "Mount of the Ascension, he did not merely call them, he ensured that they were equipped for the work. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…" (Acts 1:8). Luke's other account of this moment puts it this way, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high" (St. Luke 24:49).
We are not only given power to fullfil our ministry, we are sent with clear instructions. We are in no doubt about our mission. God gives us what we need, tells us what to take and how to conduct ourselves. Let St. Luke have the last word. Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. He said to them, "Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money--not even an extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there. Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them." They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere. (St. Luke 9:1-6)
Here, in our parish, there are many opportunities for ministry along the way. We have identified three priority areas which still remain priority, Christian Education, Youth and Outreach. I will now list those opportunities which cry out for attention.
Participation in Bible Study and other Christian Education opportunities.
Assist in our Sunday School
Volunteer in the Downsview Youth Covenant Program
Help with the development of a Stewardship program.
Share in our diocesan program by establishing and maintaining a partnership with a parish in the diocese of Grahamstown (our companion diocese).
Develop a parish telephone tree
Promote the work of our parish in our neighbourhood
Assist with our fundraising program
Help maintain our buildings
There is a longer list.
The lovely hymn by Charles Wesley comes at the beginning of this report. Verse three bears repeating.
Jesus confirm my heart's desire to work and speak and think for thee;
Still let me guard the holy fire, and still stir up thy gift in me.
After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. (St. Luke 10:1-2)
I pray that each of us will heed the call of our Lord and God to be God's witnesses.
