Episcopal PLSE

The Missioner's Beat

The Missioner's Beat:

I was invited to lead a youth group meeting at Trinity Wall Street once.  I spoke with the youth about vocation and discernment.  We wrote an acrostic to describe our calling and the gifts and talents we think we have to fulfill such a calling.  One of the youth, said he feels called to be a priest and in the letter I of his acronym he wrote “In all I do, I do the best I can”.  This is a key phrase for all of us, the baptized, when engaging God’s mission in our life.

There are varieties of gifts and talents, but the same Spirit, like St. Paul says.  Whatever your talent, gift, or calling, do it to the best of your ability for the expansion of the Kingdom and to strengthen the Church.

Dear young people, you find yourself in a stage in life when you must make important decisions for your future.  God gives us an opportunity to give full meaning to our lives on a daily basis. Listen to your heart.  Listen to God and do your best!

Miguelina+

En una ocasión fui invitada a dirigir una sesión del grupo de jóvenes de Trinity Wall Street.   Hablé con los jóvenes sobre la vocación y el discernimiento.  Hicimos un ejercicio en el cual escribimos un acróstico que describiera nuestro llamado y las cualidades, dones o talentos que tenemos para desarrollar dicho llamado.  Uno de los jóvenes al exponer su dibujo dijo que quería ser sacerdote y en una de las letras del acrónimo tenía la siguiente frase “En todo lo que hago, hago lo mejor que puedo”.  Esa es una frase clave para todos nosotros los bautizados que asumimos la misión de Dios en nuestra vida.

Hay diversidad de dones, pero el Espíritu es el mismo, dice San Pablo.  Cualquiera que sea tu don, tu talento, tu llamado, hazlo lo mejor que puedas para la expansión del Reino y la edificación de la Iglesia!

Apreciados(as) jóvenes, ustedes se encuentran en una etapa en la cual deben tomar decisiones importantes para su futuro.  Dios nos da la oportunidad cada día de darle pleno sentido a nuestra vida.  Escucha tu corazón. Escucha a Dios y ¡haz lo mejor que puedas!

Miguelina+

The Rev. Miguelina Espinal, PLSE Missioner
The Episcopal Church Center, Office of Ministry Development, 4th Floor
815 Second Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017
Tel: +1-212-716-6162  or +1-800-334-7626 ext 6162

Ordination Process: Learning Radical Non-defensiveness

by Fr Nathan Humphrey, a curate at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, K Street, Washington D.C.

By cultivating the spiritual discipline of radical nondefensiveness, I believe God has given me the grace to put my focus and energies where they need to be:  on loving the other (in all his or her cantankerousness).

Perhaps the single most important lesson I learned about ministry happened when I was going through "The Process," and it has influenced the way I interact with people to this day. This lesson was about being radically nondefensive.  I'm not always good at it, but I've tried to approach it not so much as a technique to be mastered as a spiritual discipline to be lived into, as I hope to grow in empathy and love toward everyone I meet. 

To illustrate what I mean by "radically nondefensive," I will first describe how I learned this lesson, and then give a few examples of how I've applied it to my priestly ministry in varying contexts.
I was twenty-four years old when I entered the ordination process, which in those days was regarded as barely out of diapers for an aspiring priest.  My first meeting with the Commission on Ministry went well, but not well enough for me to move on to the next step in the dreaded Process.
"Don't you think you're too young to be a priest?" asked the Commission on Ministry (COM) member.  She continued, "I mean, don't you think you haven't got enough life experience...haven't suffered enough?"

Camino: Young Adult Gathering, September 2007.

Through provocative workshops, creative worship and an interactive urban pilgrimage focused on global peace and justice --- Camino ignited our faith, inspired our walk and invigorated our call to seek and serve Christ in others. With groups from around the country, we partook in an urban pilgrimage, exploring the city's many contrasts, paradoxes, eccentricities and challenges while discovering sites where the values of the MDGs , Baptismal Covenant and Franciscan Spirituality are being practiced. It was an exciting chance to experience the heart, faith, compassion and commitment of this unique place and connect with other young Episcopalians.

For more information, click here.

Ministry in Everyday Life

by Antoinette (Toni) Daniels is Director of Partnership Program Center at the Episcopal Church Center.

On Sundays when we participate in a worship service it’s easy to remember we are Christians and be involved in our ministries.   There are crosses, altars and vestments which keep us centered on who we are (Christians) and whose we are (God’s).  But when we are away from these comfortable reminders it’s easy to forget.   And by the time Mondays roll around it’s possible that our attention is no longer focused on being Christ-like and our ministry.

Once outside of church we often have difficulties identifying our God-given ministry – what God has called us to do.  This makes practicing a ministry daily difficult.  It’s hard to recognize the appropriate place to be an acolyte, lay reader, Sunday school teacher or vestry member in the midst of school, jobs, and grocery shopping. 

There is one ministry we are all called to practice and that is acting like a Christian.  I recently heard someone say that we should live a life that is “wet”.  That is living a life that constantly brings us back to the living waters of our baptism.  Recalling that the water washed us clean and we are made new creations in Christ.  So how does this play itself out in our daily life?  Well one way is to act like new creations (Christ-like).  In other words to love!

Here’s an example from my life.  I wanted to attend the last NYC Billy Graham Crusade and was flying back from St. Louis on an extraordinarily early flight. My physical mobility is provided by a motorized scooter.  Unfortunately, when I changed planes in Chicago my scooter did not.  So when I arrived in New York I was scooter-less.  Not only could I not go beyond the boarding gate, but I was missing the car service and a friend which were waiting for me and I could possibly miss Billy Graham!  I calmly explained my situation to the customer service representative, assuring her that I knew this had nothing to do with her.  She explained that my scooter was going to be on the next flight.  After receiving my scooter, lunch courtesy of the airlines, a travel voucher and new car service, I was on my way to hear Billy Graham.   As I was getting into the car the customer service representative said it was clear that I was a Christian.  She continued by saying that she had never dealt with someone who had been so incredibly inconvenienced, yet never raise her voice or took out her frustration on her.

I don’t always respond in this manner, but I did on that day. Don’t make being a Christian complicated.  Just love when you don’t feel like it and you will be practicing your ministry.