Ministering to One Another: Conversation is the Key

By: Mardy High, Leadership Development Committee

Reverend Bruce has been suggesting that we think about the congregation as a conversation. In fact it is many conversations, and they are interconnected. Our coffee hours and chalice circles, our men’s group and conversations on the Bible, sustainability circle and knitters, all are part of this interconnection. “Deepening the Conversation” is the board’s theme this year, which might suggest being more intentional in our conversations.

The conversation allows us to know one another better and better, and that, in turn, can help us connect to the flow of congregational life. This year the leadership development committee and other committees will be joining the conversation, finding out what people most value in our congregation.

On October 11, Bruce read to the children Mary Oliver’s poem, Wild Geese, which ends with these words: “…the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-over and over announcing your place in the family of things.”

What calls to us in these conversations? Why are we gathered in this congregation, in this conversation? Through our listening and our telling, we each create our ministry to others. In thinking about our congregational life and what we each do to build community within it, the conversation is the key to finding our place in the family of things, in creating ministry. Thinking of ministry in the sense of “making things happen, getting things done,” the conversation is about finding what we are called to do, and matching that call with what needs to be done to keep our community strong and vibrant.