The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
August 16, 2009
Vol. 12 no. 31a

Everything But...
This will be a solitary Sink this week, only to be read online. I will be leading worship downstairs in the Chapel with our sister congregation, St. Andrew’s United Church, while Heather Rogers delivers the word upstairs. No, it’s not one of those British comedies.

Some of us are following the events and votes and speeches at the 40^th General Council of the United Church of Canada, taking place in Kelowna, BC. These are held every three years at different places around the country, running for a full week. You can watch the proceedings on online video, receive email updates of news and decisions. The delegates from each conference who attend these General Councils are not there for the holidays as they have to read a ton of material and proposals, attend endless plenary sessions and seminars, listen and talk about the issues of the day non-stop, or so it seems. Reports I have heard in the past describe these meetings as tedious, exhilarating, inspiring, overly bureaucratic, aimless and full of hope and anticipation for the future - usually described all in one breath. It is all of these, and worse and better.

Most importantly this is the occasion when most of the legislation on United Church policies is voted upon and passed. This year a number of propositions are being presented regarding the shape and function of the ministry in the United Church. Most deal with technicalities and procedures inside the profession, matters we seldom deal with here.

A much larger issue is seldom mentioned: who do we encourage to go into the ministry, and what do we invest in them? For a generation now young adults just out of university have been discouraged since they are perceived not to have the experience compared to someone in their 40’s. In one sense that is true, but I still believe a remarkable thing is afoot when a 22 year old decides to commit him/herself to a life in the ministry. For most of them this means an educated ministry, since there are many - too many - things one needs to learn. Wisdom of course is needed and there is no course for that, whether for a 22, 42, or 62 year old. One cannot make a smart, educated person wise, but when someone keeps reading, studying, examining the world critically, she usually recognizes quite early on that she doesn’t and won’t know everything - and out of that emerges wisdom. The odds for the church are always best when its ministers live a life of study and infect their congregations and members with the same infectious spirit - and for many a religious tradition, study is a form of worship.

As Christians, our first act is always to worship God who has endowed us uniquely with minds that continue to be renewed. Let’s continue to encourage our greater Church to keep building the ministry as an unceasing pilgrimage of worship and study - that would be as wise as Solomon.