My first posting!

Last week the Ministry Developers got together with me for one of our quarterly face to face meetings. One of our topics of discussion was blogging. Andy taught us the technical “how to” …but we wondered together about the “whys” of such journaling, deciding it was important to let the diocese know who we are and what we are doing in Ministry Development. Perhaps more importantly, though, we wondered how to maintain any degree of interest for outside readers. We grappled with developing a voice for each of our blogs….speculating about using everything from a church mouse to the Bishop’s horse, to keep our reflections focused and interesting. (Personally, I’d like to hear from Dusty the horse real soon!)

I took this discussion quite seriously and have been thinking about a “blog voice” for several days. This morning I came to the conclusion that the best persona for me to share with others who might be reading is my “wondering” voice. I wonder a lot. Sometimes my wonder is bogus…like when I wonder if someone is going to clean out the cat box before I am forced to (which is really just manipulative wishing!). But when wonder is genuine, it is so exciting and energizing…a true mix of curiosity and awe which can lead to new insights, unforeseen opportunities, even a path through the wilderness.

Most of the wondering I do is alone, in my head…but my favorite and most productive wondering is done with other people who get caught up in the moment of suspended judgment, looking from different angles and through different lenses, at a new issue or an old problem suddenly presented in a fresh context. Last Saturday’s Ethics workshop, with the participants of our latest EDS on-line offering, was one such experience. We revisited the baptismal covenant as the foundation of ethical decisions and asked, in five areas of congregational life, what those baptismal promises had to say to us. The resulting conversation was rich indeed and I continue to wonder about some of the insights. The one which has stuck with me today was the observation that “administration” has ministry built into its very title. This slice of congregational life was avoided, thought to be so plebian by most of us that no one cheerfully volunteered to be the small group which tackled it, but it was probably the most important because it is the aspect of our communal life which is servant to all other slices of life. I wonder now what our diocesan administration could/would do if both those in administration and those whose ministry it supports would take this insight to heart……

I’m also wondering whether anyone will indeed read this blog (well I guess that’s just wishing). I’m REALLY wondering what you will say, what wonderings you all have, and what we will create together in this strange medium of the blogosphere…..