Dear Ones,
I’m writing my first column to you-members of the congregation, those considering membership, and those taking a look at This Week on the Peak who are considering coming to a service or other MPUUC event for the very first time-and I’m pumped!
What an exciting time for us to be engaged at Mission Peak!
I come to Mission Peak to serve as the congregation’s Interim Minister. Perhaps more appropriately it could be called a transitional ministry. My service to the congregation is to support a constructive, healthy response to the change in its professional ministry and to provide appropriate continuity where that is called for. It’s complicated because this is a living organism, a congregation and not a thing within which a widget can replace a widget, and there’s the fix and that’s the end of that!
No, a congregation is made up of living, breathing people-adults and youth and young children too; singles and couples, families and elders. This is a time of reflection and renewal, with respect for the congregation’s vibrancy. It’s a time to take an inventory of the congregation’s, past and present. It’s a time to be thorough and fearless (or to step into any fear) and to assess what worked in the past and continues to work and what might be asking for change in the best interest of the congregation’s health. It’s a time to look toward its bright future with thoughtfulness and heart in preparation for its next ongoing or settled minister.
There’s so much creative possibility! You’ll want to listen, listen, listen to one another, and share your own perspective as well.
So come, let
‘s move into this interim, this transitional time together. Come with all your feelings, whatever they may be, into the adventure of this wandering and wondering. You won’t all feel the same way about any of it, and that’s just fine.
So, c
‘mon, let’s move ahead with generous spirits and openness to the next stage of this beautiful congregation’s life, into the yet to be.
And, dear ones, let it be a dance!
-Rev. Benson
