When I was accepted
onto the Bishop Nominating Committee I started thinking “why me? what have I got to offer?”
Then I started thinking
about how this was also opportunity to praise God for all my blessings and I a
remembered what someone said at a meeting I had attended “Stewardship is All you do, with All you
have, All of the time”.
The Bible says God
created everything, including us, and gave everything everyone has. Looking at
it with this in mind “giving back” is also “All
we do” (volunteer work) with “All we
have” (skills and talents) and “All
of the time” (using some of the valuable time God has gifted).
In praising God for all
blessings, I should simply think of saying “thank you” by giving back and this
work was my opportunity to use the talents, skills and time God has given me.
God has blessed all people
with different skills and talents expecting them to use them to build the
kingdom of heaven here on earth. This starts with concentrating on building
relationships which reflect a right relationship with our Lord.
1
Corinthians 12 states “For
even as the body is one and yet has
many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one
body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit
we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves
or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many” and ….. “Now you are Christ’s body,
and individually members of it”.
In Romans 12,
St. Paul proclaims the body is comprised of interdependent parts which cannot
function alone: “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and
these members do not all have the same function, so in
Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the
others. We have different gifts, according to the
grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in
accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if
it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give
encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to
lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully”
So, I
prayed about how could I be a part of a team and use my skills, talents and
time.
To start I needed to identify the skills and talents God has given me and say thanks for these gifts.
To start I needed to identify the skills and talents God has given me and say thanks for these gifts.
With the
invitation to be part of the work of the Diocese, I was to be part of the team
of Lay and Clergy called “to present a diverse slate of 3 to 5
candidates by November 16, 2018; following with the election of the 5th Bishop
of San Diego”.
The first part of using
our time was to attend a retreat held at the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia in
Oceanside.
With a Search
Consultant leading us, and 2 Chaplains supporting us in services and prayer, we applied the techniques
of Active Listening and Appreciative Team Building to discuss and agree on
the work to be done, build us into one team (body) and into sub committees
(functions).
This “body” is a
diverse group of 18 people from all parts of the Diocese, who based on their
skills self-selected into sub-committees and defined their roles and
responsibilities as:
·
Educating
and Communicating, to provide document sharing, calendaring, web pages and
online interview facilities. The team will also develop and distribute
education material on the role of the bishop, history of the diocese, how a
bishop is elected, and the ordination of a bishop, details on the nominating
process and regular sub-committee progress reports,
·
Listening
and Surveying, to set up surveys and meetings throughout the diocese to collect
needs, concerns, and ideas for determining the next bishop,
·
Profiling,
to develop and publish a profile of the diocese, including such items as
information form the listening sessions, history, financial overview,
demographics, institutions, governance structures, ministries, mission or
vision statements of the diocese. This information will be supported by
pictures of communities as work throughout the diocese.
·
Nominating
and Screening, to determine and action a plan on how to recruit possible
candidates. They will develop forms for nomination, marketing and advertising
material
·
Interviewing
and Discerning, to manage the standard and objective interviewing process
including initial application screening, second round online interviews,
petition candidate interviews and the face-to-face discernment retreat.
The team was from all parts of the Diocese and as we met as “one body” we also aimed to work as “one body”. The only way we were able to do this was to
listen to the Holy Spirit and allow ourselves to be guided.
When I think of the leaders of the early church, St. Peter and St. Paul, I can recognize they did not agree on many things,
didn’t get along most of the time, and finally went their separate ways in their
missions.
St. Peter
insisted the early believers must follow the old ways, must be circumcised, and
must adhere to the Jewish Law as defined in the Torah.
St. Paul’s vision
led him to distant lands proclaiming faith in a risen Christ and urging
believers to conform their lives to Jesus’s New Covenant.
What they had in
common, though, was both understood the invitation to serve and build God’s
kingdom.
During the
retreat I felt the Holy Spirit was present, guiding discussions and decisions on
how best to share skills, talents and time.
I felt the Holy Spirit enter our space from the
first moment the Chaplains prayed for us until they conducted the Eucharist and
sent us on our way.
I am sure that like
St Peter and St Paul we won’t all agree on everything and may agree to disagree
on some aspects, but as God’s work is undertaken the “body” and “functions” will
be called to be open to guidance from the Holy Spirit.
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