CRC GENERAL ASSEMBLY ASSEMBLÉE GÉNÉRALE 2006

LEADERSHIP AND RECONCILIATION

June 10, 2006

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YOUR EXPERIENCES SINCE THURSDAY

Passages/Encounters – the drama President’s Address Papal Nuncio’s Address Portfolio Directors Workshops on

Returning to the Spirit Seeing the World Anew Fair Trade: Gospel Alternative,

Imperative Systemic Response to Trafficking

Andre Beauchamp’s Keynote Address JPIC Field Workers Meals, Conversations Shared

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How were your eyes opened?

“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.”

John 9:2-5

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How were your eyes opened?

I AM THE LIGHT

Jesus said, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.

John9:4-7

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How were your eyes opened?

HE IS A PROPHET

The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?“

He kept saying, "I am the man.“ But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?“ He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight.“

So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened." He said, "He is a prophet."

John 9:8-11, 17

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How were your eyes opened?YOU WOULD NOT LISTEN

They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"

He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?“

John 9:26-27

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How were your eyes opened? YOU HAVE SEEN HIM

Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"

He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him."

Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he."

He said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshipped him.

John 9:35-38

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OVERVIEW OF REFLECTIONS

Setting the Context Spirituality of Reconciliation Fractures within and among

Religious Congregations Role of Congregational

Leaders Readiness for Leadership

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Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party

We pledge to walk togetherAnd be women and men determined

to bring about a new time.And then all that has divided us will merge.And then compassion will be wedded to

power.And then softness will come to a world

that is harsh and unkind.And then both men and women will be gentle.And then both women and men will be strong.And then all will live in harmony

with each other and the earth.And then everywhere will be called Eden

once again.

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WEB OF RELATIONSHIPS

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SPIRITUALITY OF RECONCILIATIONROOTS

Rooted in the interconnectedness of all creation

Expressed through right relationships with

God Self Others Church Earth

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SPIRITUALITY OF RECONCILIATIONRUPTURE

Relationships have been wounded, fractured, dislocated

That which belongs together is now apart

There is an awareness of pain or hurt or sin or separation that needs to be healed

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SPIRITUALITY OF RECONCILIATIONRUPTURE

Acceptance of our fractured being, “our imperfection simply is”

Deep in our hearts as individuals and as communities, there are struggles, value conflicts and ambiguities – our sinfulness

Marie Chin, RSM (1999)

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SPIRITUALITY OF RECONCILIATION

RUPTURE

Our success and glories are not the stuff of community; our sins and failures are. In those difficult areas of our lives, we confront the human condition, and we begin to learn compassion for all beings who share the limits of life itself.

Parker Palmer, 1990

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SPIRITUALITY OF RECONCILIATIONRESPONSE

Compassion is born in the soil of vulnerability.

Marie Chin (1999)

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SPIRITUALITY OF RECONCILIATIONRESPONSE

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.

So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

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EMERGING UNDERSTANDING OF SPIRITUALITY

Spirituality spells out our connectedness to

God our human roots the rest of nature one another ourselves

Statement of EATWOT (1992)

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SPIRITUALITY OF RECONCILIATION

RESPONSE

Claim and embrace one’s own story – as individual, as community, as conference

Listen to the story of the other Acknowledge the gaps:

Doubt and BeliefBetrayal and PromisePowerlessness and PowerExclusion and BelongingSuffering and Hope

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RECONCILIATION AND STORY

Storyteller and Listener linked and engaged

PhysicallyEmotionallySpirituallyIntellectuallySocially

Invites and draws all present into participation

Bridges to other places and to other times: past, present and future

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RECONCILIATION AND STORY Builds trust Unlocks passion Is non-hierarchical Is uniquely human Story spoken creates in the listener

and the teller, the community and the society:

Reflection Change Healing Reconciliation

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SPIRITUALITY OF RECONCILIATIONRESPONSE

Reconciling communities live in the gaps

We stand, wait, endure the ambiguities and uncertainties of events, relationships and experiences

God – Shekinah – dwells, stands, waits, endures with us

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SPIRITUALITY OF RECONCILIATIONRESPONSE

Communities that work hardest for internal reconciliation are the ones most eager to work for social reconciliation.

Jon Sobrino (1986)

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RECONCILIATION IS NOT . . .

Passive acquiescence to injustice

Persistence in unjust structures because they are familiar

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RECONCILIATION IS . . .

An awe-full responsibility A journey from sin to healing A continuous, ongoing,

lifelong reality Intentional Based in sincerity,

sensitivity, interdependence

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I’m sittin’ on my stage-head lookin’ out at where Skipper Joe Irwin’s schooner is ridin’ at her moorin’ … thinkin’ about how weak are the things that try to pull people apart – differences in colours, creeds and opinion – weak things like the ripples tuggin’ at the schooner’s chain. And thinkin’ about how strong are the things that hold people together – strong, like Joe’s anchor, and chain, and the good holdin’ ground below. Ted Russell, The Holdin’ Ground

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RUPTURES WITHIN/AMONG RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES

Theologies of religious life Creation theology Celebration of Eucharist Approach to social justice Focus on ecumenism Distance from young people

and young families

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RUPTURES WITHIN/AMONG RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES

Centralization of ecclesial authority Sense of regional alienation Loss of presence of Vatican II

message Reconciliation or justice Relations between religious

congregations and church hierarchy

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How can we dare Wisdom in the mosaic of our realities?

Inès Maria dell’ Eucaristia, fdls

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LEADERSHIP RESPONSE

Visionary – vision community Prophetic – speaking and living the

truth, calling the community to do so Inspiring – calling forth the good Facilitating – drawing out the energy

and action of the community Creating – preparing the environment

in which spirit develops Presiding – leading the community in

grieving and celebrating

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CHALLENGE OF CULTURE TRANSFORMATION

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LEADERS LIVING ON THE EDGE

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LEADERS LIVING ON THE EDGE

Within the Congregation Between the Congregation

and the Church Between the Congregation

and the Society With other Congregations

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LEADERS LIVING ON THE EDGE

But all of you are kindlers of fire, lighters of firebrands.

Walk in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that

you have kindled! Isaiah 50:10-11

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I will pour out my Spirit on everyone.Your sons and daughters will proclaim

my message;Your young men will see visions

and your old men will have dreams. Yes, even on my servants, both men and

women, I will pour out my Spirit in these days.

Joel 2: 28—32, Acts 2: 17—18

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Beannacht ("Blessing")On the day whenthe weight deadenson your shouldersand you stumble,

may the clay danceto balance you.

And when your eyesfreeze behind

the grey windowand the ghost of loss

gets in to you,may a flock of colours,

indigo, red, green,and azure blue

come to awaken in youa meadow of delight.

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Beannacht (« Bénédiction »)When the canvas fraysin the currach of thought

and a stain of oceanblackens beneath you,

may there come across the watersa path of yellow moonlightto bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,may the clarity of light be yours,

may the fluency of the ocean be yours,may the protection of the ancestors be

yours.And so may a slow

wind work these wordsof love around you,an invisible cloakto mind your life.

~ John O'Donohue ~

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