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Some thoughts about my ministry…I have served God and God's people in many different settings over the years: Preached in villages and cities, on Navy ships and hospital chapels, at home and abroad. I have ministered to patients with AIDS; prayed and wept with the grieving; walked with sojourners struggling with all kinds of life and faith issues. I have rejoiced over the newly baptized and communed with people from every walk of life. I have had the opportunity to teach courses, lead studies, conduct choirs, and solo with symphony orchestras. In my humanity I haven't done it all, but by God's design, I have done a lot and for that I am, above all, thankful. No matter where I have served, or in what capacity, I have tried to serve God's people with insight, imagination, energy, devotion, humor, integrity, and sensitivity. I am passionate about life and God's spirit acting in and through my life and I will share with you all that I am. In my ministry I have actively and intentionally worked to put the church into the hands of its members. I work to help God’s people to recognize and celebrate their gifts, talents, and skills and to share these with one another, the community, the larger church, and the world. Leadership in the Presbyterian Church is collaborative by nature. As an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church I am called to collaborate with elders serving on the session to minister to the members of a particular congregation and to the community it serves. This I do while earnestly striving to follow the teachings of Jesus the Christ, attentively listening for the guidance of God's Spirit, and, while remaining true to my conscience. I will continue to challenge the Northwood congregation to think outside the limits of tradition and conventional wisdom. As a result, I pray that we will enable one another to grow in spiritual understanding and experience. Some key theological issues with which I struggle:Our society is desperately looking for something to fill the void created by our spiritual indifference and lack of connectedness. The church is being challenged by the many religious traditions and practices in the world to define what it means to be the Church, what it means to be Christian. Our denomination is struggling too with what it means to be reformed, always in need of reformation. The answers are not easy and will be found in active dialogue and through a willingness to struggle with hard questions and hard answers. Economic disparity between the 'haves' and 'have-nots' continues to widen, at home and throughout all of creation. This reality demands from those who have been given much a viable, ethically and morally sound definition and practice of stewardship and reconciliation. As God’s blessed stewards we have both the responsibility and opportunity to address this disparity. I believe the answer to these issues may lie in the way we answer this question, "Are we currently involved in living the religion of Jesus, or have we retreated to the safe practice of a religion about Jesus?" Our faith is not so much something we do, as it is something we are. As a disciple of the Christ I have something to say and give to sojourners and pilgrims. I believe that the message of Jesus the Christ is relevant, formative, creative and life giving. The Good News of God with us can be communicated and embodied in a way that an increasing number of non-churched, disappointed, disillusioned and fearful people can understand and accept, and in a way that celebrates our reformed tradition of faith and reason.
page updated 06/20/2006 |
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518 Pike Place ~ San Antonio, Texas 78209 ~
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