It is customary at the close of a year to look back and reflect on all that has happened in the past year, as well as to look forward and imagine all that might happen in the new. I would like to invite each of us to take some time in the next few days to do that with some intentionality, and to do so through the lens of our Rule of Life.
- First, read through the Rule of Life (included below) with an eye on the past year. Identify the principle(s) which came most naturally for you and which provided a sense of purpose, strength, comfort, or normalcy during what was otherwise a very unusual and disquieting year. Perhaps it was building relationships, or maybe serving others. Whatever it was, take a moment to celebrate and remember with gratitude that God’s purposes were still being realized in 2020, even if things looked very different.
- Second, still thinking about the past year, identify the principle that proved more difficult than the others and spend some time thinking about why. The reason might have absolutely nothing to do with the unique challenges of 2020 or it might have everything to do with those! Take a moment to express grief over that which was lost in 2020, remembering that God is a God of grace and continues to be faithful even when things do not go as we may have wished they could have gone.
- Now turn your gaze to 2021, and renew your pledge to our Rule of Life. Identify three commitments you will make that will build upon those principles which you celebrated from 2020 or that will lean into the more difficult one that challenges you. I encourage each of us to identify and commit to concrete, specific actions, not just generalized resolutions. Write them down and keep them in a safe place so you might revisit them throughout the year. Share them with others if having that accountability is helpful. Might I suggest we each identify for ourselves:
- an action to be accomplished in the next two weeks
- an action to be accomplished in the next three months
- an action to be accomplished in the next year
- Finally, spend time thinking about how you will both serve and be served by this community of faith known as Ginter Park Baptist Church, and how together we will reflect the life of Christ in the world. Prayerfully consider what you are willing to commit of yourself and your resources, including your time and your finances. In a ‘normal’ year, we would have distributed pledge cards and had you offer them during a time set aside in a worship service. This was not a normal year. Instead, if there is a place of service you feel called to, I invite you to communicate that to me so that I might help put things in motion for you to faithfully respond; if you are able to make a financial commitment to our $110,000 Ministry Plan, I invite you to email your pledge to our financial secretary, Karen Upson (finance@ginterparkbc.org).
As unprecedented as 2020 has been, I am continually amazed at the ways in which this congregation has continued to be faithful to one another and the work we are called to do. May all the joys and sorrows of 2020 not be lost on us, but may they each prepare us for all we are called to do in 2021. And may the Advent promises of hope, peace, joy, and love continue to be manifest in and through you this Christmas season and all throughout the new year.
Peace,
Sheryl
Artwork: Window and Reflection, stained glass, National Christian Centre, Abuja, Nigeria
Attribution: Window and Reflection, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. [retrieved January 4, 2021]. Original source
Rule of Life of Ginter Park Baptist Church
As disciples of Jesus, we seek to live in such a way that our individual lives and our shared life together reflect the life of Christ in the world. With the help of the Holy Spirit, each of us thus commits to:
- Practice radical acceptance and welcome of all persons, affirming them as created in the image of God and as beloved of God
- Build relationships among ourselves and throughout our community in a commitment to shared mission and a common life
- Serve our Richmond neighbors and the wider world, working towards the dismantling of oppressive systems and serving with those whose lives seek transformation
- Engage in learning as a lifelong pursuit, acknowledging complexity and embracing mystery while seeking, giving, and receiving truths in humility
- Operate with a culture of generosity, trusting in the abundance of God and refusing to operate with a scarcity mentality
- Be accountable to one another, speaking out when necessary and asking awkward questions that may upset the status quo
- Live our lives as a conversation with God in a commitment to personal spiritual practices
- Extend grace to ourselves, to one another, and to all those whose paths we cross whenever we fall short of our pursuit to love God with our whole selves and our neighbor as ourselves