Monday, February 28, 2011

The American Baptist Seminary of the West board meetings were started by a learning session with the Rev. Eric Law, founder and director of Kaleidoscope Institute and Kristina Gonzalez from the Northwest United Methodist Church conference office. The training event and meetings were good. I returned home, to celebrate yesterday with Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Baptist Church, their 34th Anniversary. Dr. Manaway from Tabernacle Baptist Church preached. The music from both churches and Daystar Church was outstanding.

I’ve been unpacking or building the jigsaw puzzle of Evergreen Association of American Baptist Churches. We began by looking at the four corners of the puzzle, our core values: unity, cultural diversity, acceptance and shifting perspectives. In the last few postings we have turned to the “edges” of the puzzle, our mission priorities: Building Bridges, Equipping Congregations, Sharing the Evergreen Way and Reaching Beyond our Borders. I’ll tackle “Sharing the Evergreen Way” on the next posting, I want to say a few words today about “Reaching Beyond our Borders.” One of the things that I don’t think I’ve mentioned in these postings is how those of us gathered (the Evergreen Leadership) felt called to our work together, that is how we felt that Evergreen was called to do some specific thigns. We shared that feeling and sense of wonder of God at work in us and through us. This “mission priority” of the call to share what we have learned, and to work together outside of Evergreen is certainly a part of our call. It is seen and understood in our desire to make a difference in the wider ABC family but also to the community and world at large in terms of justice issues and spreading the good news of God’s love and grace. ABC/USA is the most ethnic diverse denomination in the US. The US will in the next 20-30 years be as diverse as the ABC is today. We must learn to work with that diversity well. If the church does not lead the way in this work, then we will have failed God. If all our work is done within the Evergreen we haven’t done what we have been called to do.

Thank you for reading these postings and please respond via our “contact us” web page. May God bless you in these days.

Marcia