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CANADIAN RURAL CHURCH NETWORK Index
EASTER REFLECTION - Easter: Before and Beyond - Joyce Sasse RURAL MINISTRY (Life and Faith) - Rural Church Can Give Hope to Community - Cam Harder - How to Hope Again (Book Review of Creativity by Matt Fox) WORSHIP RESOURCES - Her First Calf - Wendel Berry - God the Artist - Dag Hammerskjold - Jack's and Sarah's Prayers - Peggy Sample FROM INTERNATIONAL NETWORK - Green power and Drought Support Initiatives Focus of Church Website (Australia) LINKS
NEWS UP-DATE "Cry From the Heart: how can we find hope in the rural landscape" - July 2-9, 2007, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba - 4th international gathering of the International Rural Church Association (IRCA), hosted by Canadian Rural Church Network - key resource people - John Ikerd - noted agricultural economist from Missouri who speaks on the necessity of practicing sustainable farming - Roman Juriga - from Orthodox Academy and Centre for the Application of Renewable Energy, Czech Republic - on what's happening in Europe - Daniel Tiagarajah of Sri Lanka - Bible Study leader along with David Webster from B.C. - Christine O'Reilley and Peter Bush (Canada) - worship leaders - Web Site - www.irca-canada.org
EASTER REFLECTION Easter: Before and Beyond It was not God who was crucified. God did not die, though God was there: alongside the Son, hugging the mother, calming the disciples, giving voice through the brooding darkness. God was there, giving courage to those who carried the body to the tomb. But God's story begins long before Easter morning, and God's redemptive activities extend beyond the Judeo-Christian revelations of the Divine. The uniqueness of the Good Friday-Easter story is that it is understood to be a never-again statement, from a compassionate God, that life extends beyond death. "Be not afraid," angelic choirs sang at Jesus' birth. "Be not afraid," the angel told the women who entered the empty tomb. God's beloved goes from the tomb out into the Garden, and into the world, to show how love encompasses death. The Gospel writers, in telling the story, hear God saying through them "Here, let me show you the way it is." In the past, people covered their eyes and refused to see God's merciful activities. This time, out of the ashes of tragedy, God's love of all Creation affirmed itself through the intimacy of relationship. Truly, the Easter story is a key-stone for those who believe. But, for myself, I have to say more than "Jesus Saves". That affirmation needs to be seen in the broader context of God's on-going work throughout creation, and the redemptive activities that are being revealed even as we speak. As we journey through life, God's presence enfolds us, God's strength gives us courage to face even the darkest moments, and God's truths are channeled through us. For those who know and celebrate the Easter revelation, the strength of that love helps us overcome our deepest fears. The blessing of the Eternal God, the Resurrected Christ and the Ever-present Spirit be with us today and always. (Written by Joyce Sasse, February 2007)
RURAL MINISTRY (Life and Faith) Rural Church Can Give Hope to Community "Hope, and the realization that rural communities can be transformed, comes with the discovery that God is alive in our place (and) God is greater than the economies and governments, bigger than the culture and trends," according to Lutheran Seminary Professor Cameron Harder. "Where God is, things can change." Harder began his presentation to the United Church's Rural Consultation 2006 by reciting a litany of sads about what is happening in too many rural communities. When confronted with all of these downs, the tendency is for people "to hunker down in survival mode and turn inward." "What they want", he envisioned, "are self-sustaining communities with ample opportunity for employment, public recognition of the value of rural Canada to the identity and well-being of the nation, the opportunity to make informed decisions about our own future, improvements in the quality of life, access to health care and education at a reasonable cost, communities rich in culture and supporting family living services, and employment to retain and attract people, educational opportunities and community services that will sustain steady growth ..." "Rural churches", the Saskatoon professor concluded, "are uniquely equipped to fan this hope into a flame!" References to the church's mandate to tend this work can be found in Biblical images of "the remnant". - Isaiah 5:8 - "Ah you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is room for no one but you, and you are left to live alone in the midst of the land! The Lord of Hosts has sworn in my hearing. Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, with no inhabitant!" "We forget that economies exist to sustain communities and not the reverse. It's not OK to get rid of people to suit an economic habit..." Empty houses, and empty churches, can be regarded as remnant signs of judgment to the world. - In the Gideon Story - the remnant becomes the nucleus of a new community. - Matt 13:31-33 - The Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a mustard seed, and is like yeast, the tiniest of remnants. Where God's seed can be saved for the future and offered back as the heart of a new community. "For many important things in our society, smaller is better ... Find the mission that is suited to your size." Assets of Community-Sized Congregations Assets of smaller congregations, as noted by Harder, include the following: 1) Congregations hold a unique position of trust in the community because they seem to be non-threatening. "Because people come voluntarily, without a sense of coercion, it is more likely that really creative ideas will emerge."... 2) "Small congregations are better at collaborating" because they know they can't do it alone ... 3) They are better at telling stories that have meaning for their listeners. "If the stories are life-giving, they can transform a community."... 4) They "are better at weaving people into the congregation's web and keeping them there."... 5) They can "make people feel important and valued". People who feel valued "are more generous in their giving and more likely to serve in a leadership capacity ..." 6) They "allow people with energy and vision to blossom ... There's less red tape ... It's easier to get things done ..." 7) It is easier to organize things. Because of flexibility, they can "respond quickly to changes and sudden crisis in their community ..." 8) They "give to real needs", giving quickly and generously when the need is there ... 9) They are "better at remembering their history, cherishing it and learning from it". This can "produce people with unusual depth and wisdom..." 10) Here, people often more readily "discover the immanence - the closeness - of God". They feel God is more intensely involved in the stuff of their lives ... They see the need to minister to people in need, and get on with doing what is needed... 11) Statistically, compared to urbanites, rural people are more likely to trust their neighbours, to do volunteer work, and to have a strong sense of belonging to their community.... 12) "Know their pastors better..." 13) Good connections between the generations ... 14) Enjoy "celebrating the rhythms of life and special occasions"... 15) "Lay people are more important than pastors in small churches. Pastors come and go ... but it's the lay people that keep the mission going ..." "When I hear congregations bemoaning their shrinking size", Harder concludes, "I tell them, you are just about small enough to be effective." What they need to do is "figure out what their community needs and decide how their size can help meet those needs." Different churches have different ministries. "But they can all be effective and God-pleasing." About Regaining Hope "Attitude" and "leadership" are the two things that make a difference between whether a congregation or a community moves ahead or stagnates. "If we don't think there is hope for our rural churches, we don't put much energy into them ..." To help the people think differently, possibly they can think of themselves as the saved seed (the remnant), and they can think of the Church as the grain bin with the left-over seeds that will plant a new community. Useful approaches to help communities that are depressed or caught in the myth of inevitability: 1) Appreciative Inquiry - Find out what actually works in this place. Ask questions like What are we good at? Where do we focus our attention? How do we see God's spirit at work and how do we cooperate with that? "I can hope only because I believe in a God that is greater than all this world's trouble." 2) Asset Mapping - "assumes that what congregations and communities need in order to grow is mostly found within themselves"... If God wants something to be done, then God provides that resources to make it possible. Assets available to the community include individual assets, institutional and organization assets, economic assets, etc. Conclusion - "Involve everyone who is involved. Nothing really gets off the ground unless the people most affected fully own it and are accountable and responsible within it. - "Be open to the Spirit. Take the best from the past, but go into the future with a sense of discovery. Don't assume you know what the outcome of these processes will be. Let new paths, outside-the-box solutions, reveal themselves as you discover each other." - "Form limited partnerships, work together with companies, organizations, institutions as far as you share values and goals. Churches can sometimes be solo artists. Or they'll only approach cultural groups but stay away from economic partners. You can't cooperate on everything with everyone. But go as far as you can with integrity. After all, the full range of the community is usually represented in the pews of our rural churches." (Joyce Sasse has written these notes summarizing a presentation made by Dr. Cameron Harder to the United Church of Canada's Rural Consultation, Nov. / 06 at Ft. Qu'Appelle, Sask.)
How to Hope Again (Book Review of Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet by Matthew Fox, published in 2002) For anyone who aspires to live constructively in this era of global disruptions, Matthew Fox's book "Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet" is a must read. It is an inspiring manual that opens us to awesome possibilities. Fox, described as an Episcopal priest and a radical theologian, suggests that the most prayerful, most spiritually powerful act any person can do is to create, at his or her own level, and to be conscious of the place from which that creative gift arises. Creativity is neither a noun nor a verb. He writes, "It is a place, a space, a gathering, a union, a where wherein the Divine powers of creativity and the healing power of imagination join forces. This is where beauty and grace happen." Our knowledge-based society has left little room for wisdom and creativity. Educational systems that perpetuate stiff, structural approaches to learning suck away the life-blood that could otherwise nurture us and impregnate us with insights of healing and hope. Fox wonders: Is original sin the refusal to create? Is redemption the liberation of creativity? How do we find the balance between head and heart? How do we learn respect, reverence, wonder and gratitude, and how do these experiences change us? Historical Jesus This theologian holds before us the example of the historical Jesus as a paragon of creativity. Jesus was wise in his understanding. Through his stories he appealed to the imagination of those who heard him. By example, he offered alternative ways for followers to confront brittle rules, and in so doing find relief from some of their deepest pain. "As one who knew God," Fox writes, "Jesus knew God as the compassionate one, not as the God of requirements and boundaries". He lived over against the systemic injustice of his time and "He died for the alternative". Resurrection Resurrection is about rolling away the obstacles to creativity so the Spirit of Creativity can liberate and resurrect. Easter is about paradise restored. It is up to us to choose whether or not we wish to live as an Easter People. About Ourselves "We have to realize that a creative being lives within ourselves", and we need to learn how to let this being bring expectancy and joy into our lives. We have wonderful gifts to offer. Matthew Fox mentors us on our journey of discovery. All of us have been born with gifts. "Creativity is who we are. Creativity can redeem us and save us from our species." What are we waiting for? The Hope is "that the Divine can and will return in a more balanced form to our species. It will return through a coming alive of our love of life and a response to the pain so omnipresent on our planet."
WORSHIP RESOURCES Her First Calf from the Collected Poems of Wendel Berry Her fate seizes her and brings her down. She is heavy with it. It wrings her. The great weight is heaved out of her. It eases. She moves into what she has become, such is her fate now as a fish is free in the current. She turns to the calf who has broken out of the womb's water and its veil. He breathes. She licks his wet hair. He gathers his legs under him and rises. He stands, and his legs wobble. After the months of his pursuit of her, now they meet face to face. From the beginnings of the world his arrival and her welcome have been prepared. They have always known each other.
God the Artist "Markings", Dag Hammerskjold's spiritual diary published after his death, was described by its author as "a sort of white book concerning my negotiations with myself and God." As Secretary General of the UN (1953-61) he was known as the practical peacemaker. You take the pen and the lines dance. You take the flute and the notes of summer shimmer. You take the brush and the colours sing.
So all things have meaning and beauty in that space beyond time where you are. How, then, can I hold back anything from you?
Jack and Sarah's Prayers In the drama based on the book Harvest Moon Rising, by Peggy Sample, skilled actors showed how one could rage at God while giving thanks for blessings too often taken for granted. A defining moment is when Jack and Sarah received notice of foreclosure on their farm. Each opened their heart in prayer. Jack's Prayer Dear God - thank you for the blessings you have given. None springs to mind right now.
Dear God - thank you for the country side we live in, the planting and the plowing and the milking every day. I'd better thank you now before you snatch it all away.
Dear God - thank you for the lessons you have taught me. None springs to mind right now.
Dear God - I thought for a moment you forgot me. You give and then you take, and so I try to understand why you want to see me break, why you want to take my land from me. Is there a reason that I cannot see? Cause I'll admit that I'm a little bit confused, Father ... Feeling just a little bit abused, Father. I thought every man on earth was one of your beloved sons. Silly me, cause now I see that bankers are the chosen ones.
Dear God - have I reached the party yet to whom I'm praying or are you there at all?
Dear God - Do you understand a single word I'm saying? I know I'm just a hick who's losing everything he's got. You must be getting sick of all the farmers who will not say die! Well, so am I!
Sarah's Prayer Dear God - thank you for the blessings you have given. One springs to mind right now.
Dear God - surely when we doubt we are forgiven, so help this man to see that he will find his way somehow, and let him travel there with me. That's all I'm asking now of you.
NEWS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL NETWORK
Green Power and Drought Support Initiatives Focus of Church Website The Uniting Church in Australia's New South Wales Synod, through its website http://nsw.uca.org.au , offers hands-on leadership for people and congregations who want to "Go Green", and for a region facing the most extended drought in the last century. Green Power Headings include "Moderator exhorts congregations to go green", "Church's attack on greenhouse gas not just hot air", "Green Power Congregations" and "What kind of environmental parents are we?" These leads plus invaluable National and International links show this is a Church on a Mission. Support for Drought Victims "Country people have a strong sense of being abandoned," the Moderator writes - "abandoned to city-centred government policy, and abandoned in terms of the withdrawal of key services from their communities. "But there's no question about the resilience of country people during these times of disaster. If anything, the drought has accentuated the sense of community in rural areas, because people have found out, by working together, they've got a better sense of working with the issues." This leader affirms the people in their plight, and solicits cooperation and support from the larger church. "What can urban people do?" Twinning of rural and urban communities is promoted, an effort is being made to develop closer links through a series of sporting, cultural and educational exchanges, and city folk are invited to show they care by spending time meeting locals and seeing the need first hand. "Consider providing accommodation for rural tertiary students, or for rural families needing respite, support the church's Drought Appeal" and the rural chaplaincy funding. "There's an incredible amount of wisdom, knowledge and self-sufficiency in local communities," a drought support worker writes. "We need to tap into that .... Rural people want to share of the good stuff they've got. City churches shouldn't see it as a one-way thing of raising money.... Rural communities have got a huge amount to offer."
LINKS The official website of the International Rural Church Association's 2007 Conference (hosted by CRCN)
www.agri-vill.com/spiritualvignettes --- 92nd Edition: Prairie Forum on Church and Community --- Theme: Canadian artists who are windows to the soul of rural Canada.
SPECIALIST'S COLUMN - Canadian Artists Reflecting the Divine
SPIRITUAL VIGNETTES - Why Lent? - Joyce Sasse - Everyone Fights Some Battle - Joyce Sasse - Instead of Discontent - Joyce Sasse - Saddle-Bag Ministry - Joyce Sasse - Care-Givers Nurtured - Joyce Sasse
FROM OR ABOUT CHILDREN AND YOUTH - Achievements of Rural Youth Lauded - Lethbridge Herald
GLIMMER OF HOPE - Land as Witness - by Sheri Evans
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