Holy Conversations, Part II

Last month in this space I compared our congregation to a maturing child faced with decisions about "What I want to do when I grow up." As a congregation, I said, we, too, needed to consider what our gifts and talents might be and how God expected us to use them.

On October 8 we began that discussion of what we, as a congregation, want to be in the future. Thirty of us gathered together after worship (and a meal) to talk about what our mission as a congregation might be. Responding to several scripture passages, we came to a general consensus: God calls us to reach out in love to those in need within our community and around the world. In short, God expects us to be doing something with the gifts that He has given us.

That, then, brings us to the second part of our Holy Conversation. Now that we have some sense of what we want to be when we grow up, how do we get there? Now that we understand our basic mission, what should we be specifically doing to accomplish that mission?

Shortly after the beginning of the new year the Evangelism and Mission Committee will be inviting every member of the congregation to again participate in a Holy Conversation. This time the focus of that conversation will be to begin to discuss and discover what our specific gifts for mission are and to talk about the needs of the community around us. Our goal for these conversations is to find those areas of ministry where our gifts match the needs of the people in our community and throughout the world.

As members of the congregation, however, we don’t need to wait to begin this discernment process. I encourage all of us to begin to pray and think about what gifts you may have as an individual or the gifts you believe we have as a congregation. And think about our community, as well. What are those things that Earlville may be lacking that would be a benefit to the community in general? What are the needs of the people we see? How are they hurting? How can their lives be made whole? What kind of healing do they need? And then consider how our gifts can be used to meet the needs of the people around us.

God has called us to be his people in this place at this time. It is our responsibility to understand what God wants us to do and to do it. Please plan to be a part of the conversation as we, as a congregation, seek to do the will of God.

In Christ,

Pastor Knowles