Wondering how to bottle hope and joy.....

In the midst of a tense two week period (after the Walk About and waiting for the Electing Convention), what a gift this last week-end has been! There was the ordination at St. Stephen’s, Casper on Saturday of two transitional deacons, Kay Flores and Tristan English. And then on Sunday, I was at Holy Trinity, Thermopolis to celebrate and preach, and generally be entertained by this energetic, multi-generational church which is in the midst of a process to call their local priests. What joy to see two congregations, which have slogged through their share of depression and pessimism, growing in confidence and a vitality which shows no signs of lagging! What a joy to share their journeys…..
If only I could bottle such a feeling to share with the churches which are presently struggling. It’s so hard, when the faithful core of a congregation see members slip away, when they have crises in leadership or don’t know how to pay the bills. We look for a quick fix because we need a quick fix! It feels sometimes like such churches are runaway stagecoaches…and, the truth is that there is no way to quickly turn around a stagecoach that has been running downhill, careening wildly out of control.  The first step is to get it stopped and insure the safety of the passengers. The second step is to assess the damage and get rid of extraneous baggage to lighten the load. Then finally, the laborious task of pushing the coach up the hill and getting it going on a healthy road can be accomplished.
We know this can happen with help from friends and neighbors. We may even suspect that God’s hand is in this precarious ride and that it will lead to new and better roads which help us on our Christian journey. But the gap between the bottom of the steep hill and the level road at the top is so great that often those at the bottom need a tonic, a stiff shot of hope, to help them get motivated. I wonder-how can we bottle such hope? How can the joy of congregations who have indeed found a healthy and vital way forward be shared with brothers and sisters in need?
Maybe one way to do this is to create a venue where congregations share where they are on their Christian journey-both the smooth roads and the difficult times. We have Mutual Ministry Reviews for individual churches, where what is going well and what is not are both looked at carefully, and from which much is learned. Could we do something like that on a regional level, maybe in the Apostolic Teams? It seems to me that somehow, on a yearly basis at least, the sharing of peaks and valleys that all congregations face might be just what we need to inspire hope and compassion between us. It may also be a good place to critique diocesan leadership whose ministry is to help all our churches on their journeys. When seen in the context of the whole region, such diocesan ministry may make more sense or, if not, adjustments may become evident. Something to think about….
But in any event, thanks to St. Stephen’s and Holy Trinity for the tonic of hope and joy they provided for me this week-end. I know that many others are inspired by their success as well.