News - 2006

Epiphany 2006 Letter From
Regional Conference Minister Michael Caine

John Burroughs, the Hudson River Nature Essayist, wrote:

"The lesson which life repeats and constantly enforces is "Look under foot." You are always nearer to the divine and the true sources of your power than you think. The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are. Do not despise your own place and hour. Every place is under the stars, every place is the center of the world."

What a lens for focusing Epiphany: we're called on a journey to God knows where. But rather than fear we're traveling alone (having either left God behind in a past whose loss we mourn or God being so far out ahead of us, over the horizon, in a future we've yet to meet), we can take heart. God is only to be encountered where one finds oneself. in our present (no matter the conditions).

I have reflected ad nauseum on all that happened (and is happening) around the Association's finances. Even in hard times (and the disagreements that swirl around them), God has not abandoned us. In fact, this crisis might help our churches round an important corner where we'll encounter God anew in our changed (read that: "not completely welcome") present circumstances. While church (in local congregations, associations, conferences and the national setting) has to figure out how to do with less, perhaps God's pushing us-- albeit kicking and screaming-- towards a better understanding of our calling:

WHAT CHANGES MUST WE MAKE

TO REACH MORE PEOPLE, AND

TO ORGANIZE MORE STRENGTH

FOR MINISTRIES WE BELIEVE ARE VITAL?

Often changes demanding the most growth also hurt the most. This is the limited sense in which suffering is redemptive- providing opportunities to step out of assumptions so that we might imagine something new, something God's waiting on us for.

(An interesting dynamic in our decision-making has been the relative sureness of the Board of Directors as compared with the greater Association. Have I not provided the Association with sufficient insight into our situation, challenges, predicament (whereas the Board has been studying the issues of our Association life for the last three years?)

Our next step is appointing an ad hoc Blue Ribbon Committee to re-evaluate the Association's mission, structure, procedures, program and stewardship. The Blue Ribbon folks will look at our history, study our present circumstances and prayerfully inquire after God's call to this Association. They'll develop ways to consult the whole Association on its varieties of experience, needs and hopes. They will test solutions before bringing suggestions back to a future Association meeting. And, along the way, they will keep the Association up to date on their progress.

The Blue Ribbon Committee will be a high-commitment endeavor lasting for about a year, with monthly meetings and prayerful work to be done in between. Blue Ribbon people are leaders who care passionately about the Association, listen carefully, pray hard and think outside of the box. A host of people have volunteered or been suggested.

But if you think this mission re-evaluation is an assignment God might be calling you to, please let me know as soon as possible. The Board hopes to get the Blue Ribbon Committee started at its meeting later this month.

And a piece of good news-- a traveling mercy, if you will-- Louise will be staying with us as Executive Administrator, one more source of food for our journey. We haven't gotten all the details worked out, and her hours won't change, it looks like, until March 1, but she's looking forward to continuing her ministry among us.

Wherever this note finds you, in whatever circumstances, "look under foot." And may the God who guides wise ones-- by a star, or a fiery pillar or cloud of smoke, or by a little child-- however Grace goes forth, may it lead you and yours, and all of us, to greater appreciation this Epiphany season.

Peace,
Michael