Encouragement
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Therefore encourage one another with these words. -Thessalonians 4:18
When I came to Keene, I thought that my days as an internship supervisor were over. We are hours away from the nearest seminary, and it seemed impossible that any seminarian would travel this far for their field ed requirement. Being a supervisor at Yale was a highlight of my ministry in Connecticut, so I was sorry I was no longer going to be able to do it.
But surprise! David Gilliam is now our intern at St. James and I find myself in the position of being and internship supervisor once again. And everyone at St. James is now called into the important role of ministry development. We will encourage David and listen to him, offer him constructive feedback and celebrate his gifts. It will be our task to help him continue his discernment for the future and to encourage him to practice skills he will need. And our ministry of leadership development is important - it will benefit the whole church.
This is ever more important because things are changing so much in the church. Becoming a priest now is very different than when I was first ordained. Full time jobs will be few for our newly ordained clergy. Most new clergy expect to be ‘bi-vocational,’ meaning that they will earn money in other spheres, not just through the church. New ordained leaders need to be entrepreneurial, creative and diverse in their skills. They need to be flexible and faithful and full of hope.
And churches need to practice all these things also. It will be a rare church that continues in the familiar model of one full time priest serving one parish in the years to come. Clergy will be more often shared between churches, or compensated only part time, meaning that they will not be with churches every Sunday. Lay ministers will conduct worship more often and taking on more of the tasks that rectors have done or that staff used to cover. As we discussed at convention this year - we are living through some pretty significant ‘divine disruptions’ in the church. As siblings in faith, we are called to navigate these changes together as a caring community, encouraging one another with words of faith, hope and love. A lot may change, but our love of Christ and each other will not.
Because of all this, I’m especially excited that we get the chance to be David’s sponsoring parish and internship site. I hope we will find innovative ways not only to include him in the life of our church, but also travel alongside him as we all find our way forward into the future as the church changes and transforms.
You can expect to see David in the pulpit periodically, as well as at vestry meetings. He might shadow me at funerals or in hospital visits. He might teach a class or coordinate a project. We’ll have to see where the Spirit leads. I’m looking forward to hearing David preach among us for the first time this Sunday. May his words be encouraging to us, and ours to him.
