Thirteen cottage meetings. More than 100 participants. Members of the Messiah family for 50 years, and members of the family for one year. All with three important things in common—love for each other, love for this community of faith, and a deep love for all of God’s children.
I am sure that I am not the only person who was not sure what to expect as we set off on this adventure of cottage meetings with people with whom we had not necessarily chosen to share our hearts’ secrets and our concerns about Messiah. However, it was truly a safe place where we discussed breathing, grieving, healing and reconnecting with each other in a loving, respectful way. I learned much about people whom I thought that I already knew very well. (One of those people being my spouse of 40 years.) I heard things that were hard to hear but which I certainly needed to hear. I laughed. I discovered that the same things that brought me here brought others.
It is just difficult to be in the in-between place. To me it seems like a corn maze, and you will never find me paying to be in a corn maze. You know that the exit is there, somewhere. You know that at the end there is a big open field, but you do not know exactly where, and you certainly do not know how long it will take you to get to the end. If you know me well, you know that I really, really do not like that feeling that I am not in control. It is difficult to just let go and have faith. However, we are moving through the maze, and we are doing it well. The cottage meetings are over, and we learned about the themes that the facilitators heard during our first summer brunch on June 10. In June, July, and August, we will do visioning together so that our congregational profile can be filled out. We are moving through the TransitionChecklist which is designed to be sure that all of our business is in order before we invite someone else in to join us. A nomination committee is being put together, and that will lead to a slate for the call committee.
All is good in this sanctuary called Messiah.