Gathering Prayer
Almighty God, by your grace alone we are accepted and called to your service. Strengthen us by your Holy Spirit and make us worthy of our calling as servants and leaders of your church; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. AMEN.
Romans 12:2-12 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
2 Do not be conformed to this world,[a] but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.[b]
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Questions for Reflection
What strikes you in this passage? How does this passage connect to and encourage the mission and work of your congregation?
Romans 12:2-12 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
2 Do not be conformed to this world,[a] but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.[b]
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Questions for Reflection
What strikes you in this passage? How does this passage connect to and encourage the mission and work of your congregation?
An Observation “From the Balcony”
Technical and Adaptive Issues, Problems and Organizations
- Adaptive leadership is specifically about change that enables the capacity to thrive.
- Successful adaptive changes build on the past rather than jettison it.
- Organizational adaptation occurs through experimentation.
- Adaptation relies on diversity.
- New adaptations significantly displace, reregulate, and rearrange some old DNA.
- Adaptation takes time.
From “The Practice of Adaptive Leadership” Heifetz, Grashow, Linsky
Prayer – A Future Not Our Own
Women: A future not our own. It helps now and then to step back and take a long view. The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts. It is beyond our vision.
Men: We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
Women: No statement says all that could be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
Men: No program accomplishes the Church’s mission. No set of goals and objectives include everything.
Together: This is what we are about. We plant the seed that one day will grow. AMEN.
(First half of a prayer written in memory of Abp Oscar Romero.)
Concluding Prayer for Forgiveness
Be merciful to me, O God,
because of your constant love.
Because of your great mercy
wipe away my sins!
2 Wash away all my evil
and make me clean from my sin!
I am always conscious of my sins.
6 Sincerity and truth are what you require;
fill my mind with your wisdom.
7 Remove my sin, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness;
10 Create a pure heart in me, O God,
and put a new and loyal spirit in me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence;
do not take your holy spirit away from me.
12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
Confession and Absolution
Leader: If we confess our sins, God is just, and may be trusted to forgive our sin and cleanse us from every kind of wrong. In silence we call to mind our sins.
Silence
Leader: Let us confess our sins.
God of grace, we confess that we have sinned, in what we have thought, and said, and done.
Forgive us for the sake of Jesus Christ. AMEN. Through the cross of Christ, God have mercy on you, pardon you and set you free. Know that you are forgiven and be at peace. God strengthen you in all goodness and keep you in life eternal. AMEN.
Scriptural Reflection
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart.
The Lord’s Prayer
Concluding Prayer - Continuation of A Future not our Own
Men: A future not our own. This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water the seeds already planted knowing that they hold future promise.
Women: We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.
Men: We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing this. This enables us to do something and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, and opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.
Women: We may never see the end results, but is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
Together: We are workers not master builders, ministers or messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own. AMEN
(Bp Ken Untener in memory of Abp Oscar Romero)
Leader: The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all ever more. AMEN
Men: We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
Women: No statement says all that could be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
Men: No program accomplishes the Church’s mission. No set of goals and objectives include everything.
Together: This is what we are about. We plant the seed that one day will grow. AMEN.
(First half of a prayer written in memory of Abp Oscar Romero.)
Concluding Prayer for Forgiveness
Be merciful to me, O God,
because of your constant love.
Because of your great mercy
wipe away my sins!
2 Wash away all my evil
and make me clean from my sin!
I am always conscious of my sins.
6 Sincerity and truth are what you require;
fill my mind with your wisdom.
7 Remove my sin, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness;
10 Create a pure heart in me, O God,
and put a new and loyal spirit in me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence;
do not take your holy spirit away from me.
12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
Confession and Absolution
Leader: If we confess our sins, God is just, and may be trusted to forgive our sin and cleanse us from every kind of wrong. In silence we call to mind our sins.
Silence
Leader: Let us confess our sins.
God of grace, we confess that we have sinned, in what we have thought, and said, and done.
Forgive us for the sake of Jesus Christ. AMEN. Through the cross of Christ, God have mercy on you, pardon you and set you free. Know that you are forgiven and be at peace. God strengthen you in all goodness and keep you in life eternal. AMEN.
Scriptural Reflection
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart.
The Lord’s Prayer
Concluding Prayer - Continuation of A Future not our Own
Men: A future not our own. This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water the seeds already planted knowing that they hold future promise.
Women: We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.
Men: We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing this. This enables us to do something and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, and opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.
Women: We may never see the end results, but is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
Together: We are workers not master builders, ministers or messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own. AMEN
(Bp Ken Untener in memory of Abp Oscar Romero)
Leader: The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all ever more. AMEN
RSS Feed