Trying to Catch –Up

It will be next to impossible to recap the last week and a half for the pace never stopped and the emotional responses never diminished. But I’ll try.

By the end of the week of evangelistic services, I had become comfortable with the style of worship and preaching. The theology in some of the music and in small parts of the preaching continued to challenge me – mostly around gender and spiritual warfare images. I had a chance to speak with Rev. Christine and I had come to find her motivational for my heart. I wonder where some of her phrases and insights and behaviours will begin to seep out when I get back to Canada? One of the most profound moments during the whole week came however in the prayer that the Circuit Superintendent (also my Learning Supervisor) offered on the Thursday night to his people. He asked the people to be generous – they needed donations to cover the costs of this week of services. And then he stood there and sang a prayer to them for 10 minutes or so - unaccompanied! I was awed by what I was witnessing. At one level I experienced that as a moment in the presence of the Kingdom of Heaven – there was no questioning that this was Holy Space. At another level, it felt like I was standing in an Ancient Temple and the High Priest was singing to his people – a prayer of hope and love. I became very humbled and even fearful, for I knew that such spiritual depth and power like this is given to all of us to use for God’s work. Once again, I found myself facing God.

Friday night was the last evening of these services and it was an outdoor event. Earlier that day, I had picked up a relatively new friend of mine, Bill. We had taken a Clinical Pastoral Education course together last spring/summer at one of the hospitals in the Niagara Region. He had come to the island for a few days from Grenada where he is currently an Anglican Theological Student on internship. We spent the afternoon sharing a meal and talking – it was good to connect to someone from home who was having a similar experience. I drove him around the west coast and took him to the Anglican Church in Holetown, one of the oldest on the island. We walked briefly in the ocean and then headed back to Bridgetown for he was coming to the outdoor service with me. That was the first time that he had attended an evangelical service and I think he was engaged by the music and the preaching. At 10:30 pm I had the task of driving him back across the island to the Anglican Theological School, Codrington College – a drive that took me through the small villages and countryside. I was very glad to get back home around midnight and so were Mary and Basil for they could not get to sleep knowing that I was doing a late night cross-country trek. But all was well.

That Saturday I was exhausted from the services all week, the late nights of journaling and painting and all the emotions that goes with that. I stayed at home and worked on sermons and worship services but also let my spirit just relax and try to process all that had and was happening.

The following week was another long one with meetings nearly every night. The church structure requires semi-annual congregational-type or council meetings and these were now being condensed into a tight time-line because of the special services the week before. Mid-week I had a pleasant surprise when a friend of mine from home had docked on the cruise line and contacted me about having lunch. We found a great little place by the ocean to dine and chat. What a treat to be surprised like that. It did however, leave me very aware that I was becoming a little disoriented with one foot back home and one foot here in my ministry.

That evening was my somewhat anxious Lenten Bible Study presentation on the middle sections of the Book of Revelations. Suffice it to say that technology complicated my life and my presentation was scattered and thin (getting powerpoint to run with my notes showing for my viewing was very challenging) I was not pleased and my learning once again is to always test the technology well in advance of presentations. The late evening self-evaluation was of course a bit hard on my ego. But the real challenges came as I also reflected on my choice not to respond to what I heard as judgmentalism around sexuality issues as they surfaced in the group discussion about the evils in the world. I was very disappointed in my silence even though it may have been interpreted as showing good judgment on a very sensitive issue in the Caribbean. That disappointment took a lot of emotional energy to deal with it and move on. However, I discovered something about my identity as one called to be a spiritual leader and that ultimately is good.

Saturday was another demanding day. There was a semi-state funeral for a minister with the MCCA who had been at different times very active in the various levels of the church organization. He was also a member of the Senate and the Chaplain for the Military. The Rev. Leonard Rock was a social activist in all the areas of his life and that was clearly his way of living out the Gospel no matter where he was. It was good to see the effect that such a person has on the many that he obviously mentored and befriended over his years of ministry. The funeral service was held in James St. Methodist Church being the one with the largest seating capacity. Basil estimated that there were close to 2,000 people that attended the service. The Connexional President, Rev. George Mulrain was in attendance (like the Moderator of The United Church) as was the District President Rev. Victor Job. They both made a point of coming up to me to say hello as they had of course heard of this intern from The United Church of Canada. The introductions were very nice and it was good to exchange the greetings from my church to them and likewise back to The UCC.

After the funeral service, I walked with all the other ministers and preachers and choir as well as the family and the hearse through the streets of Bridgetown to Bethel Methodist Church which where Rev. Rock was to be buried. It was a good tribute to a great person and I was honoured to represent The United Church of Canada.

The challenges of the event were embodied more through my observations of my Learning Supervisory who was officiating the service but who also considered Rev. Rock to be his mentor, minister and friend as well as colleague in ministry. That touched the very similar experiences of my own not that long ago. It was from my own knowledge of the difficulties for ministers burying their friends, that I hope I was able to offer some pastoral support to Rev. Walfall and his wife who read the Obituary (life story) during the service. The day had been long, leaving the house at 7:15 a.m. and returning at 3 pm. - the evening was spent preparing for the next worship service and baptism.

Sunday was a total blessing! I had my first Baptism - a little one named Nathan! I was smiling through the whole thing – it is truly a blessing to go through the symbolism with abundant water to represent the abundant love with which we are to welcome every little child into the Body of God. I had discussed with the pastor of this congregation, Rev. Bourne about my UCC tradition of inviting a young person to pour the splashing water from pitcher to bowl, baptizing with large handfuls of water and walking the child into its new community of faith. He encouraged me to do these things but to introduce them to the congregation with appropriate explanation. The ministry staff have been very supportive of me bringing some new and different ways into parts of their service. I felt good about the weaving of their formal Baptismal liturgy and my more theatrical expressions of that.

This week will be different again – my daughter and sister are visiting and I can hardly wait for them to arrive later this afternoon. Not sure how soon I’ll post again for between the wonderful visiting will be work as well as I have to prepare for Holy Week coming up as soon as they leave. Holy Week means services every night with preaching and then Easter. I hope I will feel rested and full of joy from the time spent with family to thoroughly enjoy the moments with my new friends here at Easter.

Till next time