St. Francis in the Foothills

I heard someone the other day suggest that this year we are emerging from a “New BC – Before COVID” and into a time that will be wholly distinct from just two years ago.

 

As we step into this New Age, I must admit it’s a bit fear evoking to me. Not that I don’t want to make the transition, but the passage, the process, the change is always troublesome in myriad ways. What to cling to...and what to  leave behind? How to re-start something that we’ve lost in the interim? How to focus on something new without overwhelming the available energy of the population? How to switch from something that “we’ve always done,” to the
new way of caring, serving, or loving that we sense in front of us?

I think it’s important in this seminal moment to leave all options on the table. Don’t dismiss anything too quickly, but at the same time, don’t cling to something so tightly that it covers other possibilities in front of you. If you have been on a certain committee forever, maybe this is the perfect time to re-imagine yourself. If the view in front of you is different from two years ago, let’s find ways to re-connect ourselves in new ways that speak well to your current perspective. Seek out people who are already working in the area where your
heart is being led; they will find a place at the table for you. Seek for the new voices that will set up a new table, a new connection, a new means of loving and caring.

Two years ago, a dynamic young pastor, J.J. Warren, spoke at St. Francis. During the pandemic, he has continued his future-altering work with a program called Young Prophet’s Collective (YPC), in which 10-12 young LGBTQ+ people and allies sit together to help find the voices that will speak prophetically in the current moment. Isn’t that a marvelous initiative? I think we need the same process. One of the ways we helped each other through the pandemic was through our COVID-teams which gave us companions on that difficult journey.

 

Those teams might be even more important in determining our future. If you do not have a team of individuals around you and would like one, please talk to me and let’s connect you to others.

 

Christmas gives us a wonderful new opportunity to re-birth both ourselves and the world around us. As the Christ calls us out of our isolation and back toward community, the opportunity is before each of us to, re-connect, revive, and re-imagine ourselves.

This next year is a New Age of being, for each of us as individuals, as well as for us as an organization. Please use it to rediscover both your voice and your action in the world around you. Then, bring your ideas and your effort to St. Francis so that we can help you bring your vision to pass. Dream my friends...and St. Francis will continue to change the world.