Dear friends,
This last week was Epiphany. That is important for a lot of reasons. Let me name some.
- Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th and marks the visit of the Wise Men (Magi) to the Christ child.
- Epiphany was generally understood to be the end of Christmas for Western Christianity. Because it is so widely celebrated it is a good opportunity to talk with friends, neighbours, co-workers and family about the Christ of Christmas. Conversations that can set the table for future conversations, prayer, and hospitality… You get the drift.
- Epiphany can popularly mean an inspiration, a sudden awareness, or a revelation of some kind. Historically, it actually means the presentation of Jesus to the “Gentiles” (meaning the Magi) or the manifestation of God… Mouthfuls of words but a very simple meaning actually… How did Christ manifest himself to you this past year, at Christmas, and into the New Year?… How indeed does Jesus make himself known to me each and every day?
Epiphany then identifies with a celebration that many “committed” and “marginal” Christians are aware of. Epiphany prompts us to look for the “manifestation”, presence, engagement and prompting of Christ by his Spirit each day.
In addition, thank you for those of you who responded to reading the Neil Postman quote last week. The source of that quote was my son-in-law Stephen Morris who I am grateful to.
Finally, I am also puzzled that more folk have not taken me up on the invitation to share your own personal devotional patterns. Mine seem quite narrow, almost impoverished, and I would gain enormously from sharing different ways of entering into personal devotional life. Could you please share with the larger constituency those things?
In conclusion, there are many things to pray for. In the interests of brevity 2 in particular come to mind. Please pray for Dennis Stone and the whole area of settlement. Please also pray for the Search Committee for the new Executive Minister’s position and the candidates that have applied, giving thanks for Kayely Rich and her leadership of the group.
Warmly,
In Christ,
Jeremy Bell
Quote of the Week: Jeremiah 29:11 (NRSV): For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.
Notes from the Family: There is a temptation for some churches to not partner with the denomination in the dialogues around LGBTQ issues. This would be important to do. On 2 occasions we have asked to participate in a church board dialogue and have been declined. The sad piece was that 1 of the boards was simply misinformed about process and resources available.