Sunday---all day, a good day

What a day!!! Two services this morning at First: Blue Springs with the bishop preaching; a meal afterward ; (and hour to relax---at Joann's looking at counted crosstitch stuff); a charge conference at Saint Peter in Blue Springs; then two meetings in Lexington---I was able to meet some of the folks involved in the new migrant ministry there, and then, and then....the first meeting of our district's Young Adult Initiative Task Group!!! Here's a pic---From left to right: Rev. Megan Sly; Travis Sappington; Rev. Kevin Shelton; Rev. Rod McNeall; and Kelly Vandiver. These five represent churches from across the district--suburbs and small towns. We were missing wonderful Melissa from Marshall, but alas, her silly d.s. set a meeting on Sunday night, and she is a youth director, so there's that. Tonight, we spent time getting to know one another (no one knew everybody except me); and we began to talk about "outcomes" that we hope to see at the end of this year and at the end of three years. Some really good things: we established that we would not be a "programming" group per se, but would give the direction to the initiative itself; we talked about how it is our read that churches need some basic resources as to who the young adults are in their specific ministry areas; we talked about this year as a conscienceness raising year, and how this has already begun through the charge conferences and pastor meetings. I think it was a good start. I was somewhat (!) self conscious regarding the fact that I had not already set an agenda for us---that I wanted us to do that together. I think I bring the passion, the pastoral/administrative know-how; and the deep commitment to us making some real inroads in all of this. When I told them I thought that they, led by chair Rod, could meet in December without me, one said, "one more meeting, and then we'll try it," and Megan thought I should come to refresh myself and my own soul. Megan, you are right. What we shall be, as John's first epistle says, has not yet been revealed. But we trust in our Lord that our vision is his vision, and we are committed to holding out our hands empty before him, and we know that our Lord will equip us to meet the needs of today. Kelly shared that a high spiritual moment for her was that today she led in worship (she is a certified lay speaker) and that as the congregation sang a hymn she had picked and loves Here I Am, Lord, she felt a profound moving in her soul. Here we are Lord, the Young Adult Initiative Task Group, in one district in one conference, and we are attempting, in our corner of the world, to respond. Use us Lord, use even us...