Re-formation and Re-newal

-
Dear Beloved in Christ in the Rocky Mountain Synod,

It’s Reformation Day, and I’ve just returned from a three-day retreat at the St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass. It’s my personal commitment to take such a retreat once a quarter. This is one way I nurture my soul; at the same time, it is a tangible way for me to honor our 2013 Synod Assembly resolution on healthy leadership that encourages all congregations and ministry sites to intentionally provide one day each month for their pastor or rostered leader to dedicate themselves to prayer and meditation. I choose to take mine in a three-day dose every three months as that’s what works best for me.

It might seem self evident that those of us called to public leadership in the church would spend time in prayer and meditation. What I realized anew during my recent retreat was that in our 24/7 plugged-in world that never sleeps—where a smart phone is always in your pocket and the next crisis or urgent matter is only a click away—the space needed to breathe and to slow down enough to actually connect to God is hard to find. Sometimes the only way to create that needed space is to remove yourself physically and to leave the computer and phone behind. For me, the natural outer beauty that surrounds Snowmass and the internal tranquility that emanates from St. Benedicts is healing balm for my weary spirit.

I believe that our nonstop 21st century North American society needs pastors and other church leaders who feel called to serve as spiritual leaders and mentors. That means modeling for others who are burdened by the same kinds of relentless demands, the same incessant input and hyper-connectivity, the need to step away from time to time. This “stopping” is what allows me to recognize the grace-filled presence of God in the stillness and in the silence. This time away is what re-connects me to who I really am, exposing the subtle temptation to believe that my identity is somehow rooted in what I do or in the carefully constructed façade (however noble) that I present to the world each day. Only in the divine stillness and the silence do I discover the profound and eternal truth that who I “am” in Christ is the most important gift I have to offer to others and to the world. 

In addition to my quarterly retreats, another way I’ve been seeking to equip myself as a spiritual leader is through the ELCA Bishops’ Journey of Renewal. This program will be offered to rostered leaders and professional church workers here in the Rocky Mountain Synod starting September 2014. The Journey of Renewal is an intensive, year-long wellness experience designed by Portico Benefit Services (provider of ELCA Health and Retirement plans) to help those serving publicly in the church to grow their ability to live well in Christ. It combines retreats and small group coaching to help participants explore their strengths and core values in light of their relationship to God. Each person is introduced to a rich variety of spiritual practices and is invited into intentional conversation about the opportunities and obstacles they face in living out their call to be a whole person of God. 

More information about the RMS Journey of Renewal will be coming soon, but the commitment to offering this program grows from my personal conviction that healthy congregations and ministries are shaped by healthy leaders—and that healthy leaders are those committed to tending their spiritual life with an intentionality that is absolutely necessary in the demanding, non-stop, information-overloaded world in which we live.

So, beloved of God—rostered leader or daily disciple of Jesus—where is your Snowmass? What nurtures your spirit? I invite your reflections and comments even as I pray that it might be well with your soul!

Yours in Faith,

Bishop Jim 

Comments

Anonymous said…
Nice pictures!!! Great comments. Keep on commenting!!
1:31 PM
Anonymous said…
Great reading your blog...your words were what I needed to read/hear. :)
2:49 PM
Ruth Ann Loughry said…
I appreciate your willingness and commitment to model the health you are asking others to seek. God's continued peace as you come down the mountain.
4:31 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Personal reflections on racism and becoming

-
I woke up the other day with the story of Nathan and David on my mind. You might remember this story from 2 Samuel 12 in which the prophet Nathan comes to David after David has used his privilege to send Uriah the Hittite to die on the front lines of battle so that David could claim for himself Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba. As Nathan engages David, he describes how a rich man, owner of many flocks, has taken the only lamb of a poor man to prepare a meal for his guest, rather than using his own resources. David is outraged at this injustice and angrily responds that this rich man without pity deserves to die, while the poor man should be restored fourfold what he lost. That is when Nathan utters the words that change everything for David: You are the one! You are the one! These prophetic words confront David with the truth of his complicity in the death of Uriah.   You are the one! These prophetic words expose how David’s failure to recognize his privilege has served as a tool...
Read more

Continuing our Life as Church Becoming: Updated recommendations for navigating the next chapter in our pandemic landscape.

-
Beloved in Christ in the Rocky Mountain Synod:   Note: The recommendations offered here are updated from those presented on May 23, 2020 . Please consult the originals when reviewing these updates in order to access important background, context and resources.   Introductory comments We have been living in pandemic mode since the middle of March. By now we imagined that conditions would be improving or that our concerns would be more focused on a possible second wave of coronavirus in the fall. Instead, we find ourselves more deeply in the midst of what Dr. Michael Osterholm has described as a “forest fire,” spreading wherever there is “wood to burn.”   At the time of this writing, infection rates and the related death toll from COVID-19 continue to rise both in our country and region. There is no clear end in sight to when and how this pandemic will ease its grip on our life. The idea of 14 days of successive decreases of cases in any location, including in much of our ...
Read more

Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus

-
Image
In late January my wife, Kim, and I joined in a one-week journey with six fellow ELCA Bishops to visit the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (E LCJHL) . Much of our time was spend in the West Bank region of Palestine in communities like Beit Sahour, Bethlehem and Beit Jala, where the Lutheran Christian presence is strongest. We also spent time in Ramallah, Jerusalem, Nazareth and then in Jordan for the dedication of the Lutheran Church Bethany beyond the Jordan Baptismal Site .  Language matters. When I first was describing this trip to others, I spoke of going to the Holy Land for the first time. While that was true in a sense, this visit was really about the church to church relationship we enjoy as the ELCA with the ELCJHL. We heard more than once that while many pilgrims comes to the Holy Land to walk in the footsteps of Jesus by seeing historical sites related to the life and ministry of Christ, the real accompaniment with Christ happens ...
Read more