“Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.” ―
This is the kind of week when many terrible things are happening. In New Orleans and southern Louisiana. And in Afghanistan. In Southern California. And Haiti. And maybe in your neighborhood. Or your sister’s. And the Covid-19 Delta variant seems to know no bounds.
So what are we to do? Can we give attention to the beautiful when the terrible is so loud, so demanding, so overwhelming?
While the terrible things need, or even demand, our attention, beautiful things still need notice as well. If you are a pastor or chaplain, an advocate or an activist, you see what your colleagues are facing. Maybe you are facing some terrible things, yourself.
Could you use some encouragement? A word of good news? Recently I had a conversation with four seasoned ministers who are working to encourage and support new pastors. I think you’ll find what they have to say beautiful.
Listening guide
Introductions:
1:01 Rev. Scott Hudgins
2:58 Rev. Dr. Greg Rogers
3:27 Rev. Dr. Andrea Dellinger Jones
3:55 Rev. Dr. Tim Moore
4:50 Remembering what it is like to be new in ministry
6:25 The Learning Pastoral Imagination Project – basis for the insights and many stories of the Three Minute Ministry Mentor
8:50 Ministry as a practice
11:00 How mentors help the learning process for pastoral imagination; see also chapter 12: “Mentoring for Skill”
11:55 Andrea about mentoring a group of new pastors
17:15 Tim on envisioning ministry as an art, not just tasks to be mastered
20:55 how stories in thee ebook address preaching
22:50 Greg on ministry as a practice and the importance of relationships and emotional intelligence
28:00 Scott on the complexity of ministry and the foundational aspects of ministry including listening, prayer, and learning over time
Children Need our Advocacy
Another beautiful moment this summer is the possibility of cutting child poverty in the U.S. by half. That comes as part of a new relief package to bolster children and families recovering from multiple losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Poverty does lasting harm to children, and Black and Brown children in the U.S. are unfairly impacted more than others.
Maybe your children, like mine, are without material need, and you wonder: Why am I getting this credit? If this is you, then maybe you will find help in my opinion piece at Christian Century. It is “Paying the child tax credit forward.”
Let's celebrate the good the #ChildTaxCredit is doing to end child poverty & racism.🎉
Then IF your child's material needs are met?🎉
Take the #CTCchallenge & #PayItForward🎉Read more: https://t.co/VXQdPViHVJ#AdvocateForChildren @ChildDefender @cdfca @cdfmn @CDFTexas @CDF_SRO pic.twitter.com/yBcnNL0QD4
— Eileen Campbell-Reed #BlackLivesMatter (@ecampbellreed) August 25, 2021
