For all that will be, YES!

“To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.”

I am not a “New Year’s Resolution” type of person, but I do love the newness of the New Year. I love the possibilities that lie before me like a blank page waiting to be filled. I love discerning what I need to leave behind in the old year and what awaits birth in the new.

Likewise, I note the same in ministry: what programs have had their season and no longer serve us well? What ministries will God call forth from us, to respond more fully to the world’s hurts and hungers?

A prayer I offer as I consider this is:

“For all that has been, THANKS! For all that will be, YES!”

This weekend, 30 clergy and laity from the Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain Conferences will be gathering to develop a plan for a new conference. This is after several years of study, discernment, prayer and discussion. Additionally, the group will be reviewing the recommendations made by a consultant, John Wimberly. That report is the result of 115 interviews with people across our area. What he offers are insights and recommendations. These recommendations will inform the work of the retreat participants. Click here to read the Wimberly report.

At the end of the retreat, recommendations for our future together will be made available for your review, comments, critiques, and suggestions. These will be revised and prepared for our joint annual conference in June.

I ask that you keep the retreat participants in your prayers as they meet this weekend. It will be a time of asking, what season are we in? How can we organize ourselves so that we support clergy and laity leadership development so we can have vital congregations that offer the life-giving love of God for our current and future ages? What is needed in an annual conference to ensure that strong ministries continue to be supported and evolve? How do we prepare our churches for those who will inherit the fruits of our labors?

I give thanks for all that has been in Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain. God has been present and offered many blessings throughout our area. And I hold open my heart and hands for all that will be. Truly, God is good!

Blessings,
Bishop Karen