Living Into Big Questions

Tomorrow (Saturday, October 22) the Western Session will meet in-person for the first time since January. (We’ve been meeting monthly, just on Zoom.) We’ve known for a while that we have some big questions about what God has in store for us – finances, staffing, next steps in our antiracism work, worship with 40 people in-person in a space that’s meant for many more.

These questions are not impossible, nor is the church in bad shape. But in these uncertain times, living into the questions will require some hard work and a high level of trust. As with any uncertainty or difficult decisions, there may be times when conflict arises or people of good faith disagree.  We’ll need to be clear about our shared commitments to how we live together as a Christian community, find healthy ways to talk about our disagreements, and build trust.

I give thanks for gifted leadership who will be with us tomorrow. I’ve asked Rev. Juli Wilson-Black, a member of the presbytery’s Committee on Ministry (COM) and pastor of Fairlington PC, to meet with us for conversation on becoming a community of trust.  She has also offered to answer any questions folks might have and can be contacted by email.

Elder Amy Lenander will lead a process to help us get all our big questions out in one place, and Elder Kathy Hawk will share some of the broad outcomes of this summer’s staffing review regarding changes over the last two years.

In this process, I know that transparency is a big part of building trust. I anticipate that you will have questions about our conversation. We’ll be thinking about how to communicate with the whole congregation and hope that you will engage us in constructive conversation.

As we look to the future, my prayer for all our conversations in our church is that we will discover the Spirit at work in us and through us and even beyond us,

Laura