Unit 10: Reflection - Journey's End and A New Beginning
10.1 Scripture & Worship
Scripture:
Collect:
Heavenly Father, who sent Your Son to travel with his disciples and sent the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, to walk alongside us, be with us as we commit ourselves to you, so that we may do your will, keeping our promise to serve you faithfully and humbly; and may we be alive to the gifts you have given to us for our journey, in prayer, Scripture, Sacrament, reflection, thoughtful training and the wisdom of our colleagues, so that we may serve you in honesty of purpose and effectiveness of action. Amen.
Intercessions:
Can: Lord, send your Holy Spirit
Res: To be with us on our journey.
- Heavenly Father, we thank you for all those who have contributed to our Course, for the designers and presenters, and for each other; may we continue to contribute constructively to our work together:
- Heavenly Father, in looking forward to our Commissioning, help us to realise the power of your gifts and to be realistic about what we can undertake; may we always be willing to learn, ready to listen and generous in our teaching:
- Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of Your Son's example and the presence with us of the Holy Spirit; may we recognise that we are nothing of ourselves but flourish with your gifts of Word, Sacrament, Prayer, Reflection, training and the wisdom of our friends and colleagues in Christ:
- Heavenly Father, who made all humanity your children, help us to see you in each of them and to put them at the centre of our Care:
- Heavenly Father, be with us on our journey, in joy and sorrow, tedium and drama, success and failure, alone and together; give us the faith to bear witness to you in good times and bad, in what we think and say and do. Amen
10.2 Introduction
- We have reached a critical juncture in our pilgrimage of life in the service of God: we have walked alongside each other, learning how to serve God's family in the Ministry of Pastoral care; we have confirmed our willingness to serve by agreeing to attend a Commissioning; and we will soon be travelling alongside a wide variety of our fellow Christians in God's family. In giving thanks for God's gifts, we will commit ourselves to working faithfully and humbly as Disciples of Jesus, taking responsibility and sharing the load.
- In this Unit we will:
- Review the contents of the course and identify what we have learned and what additional resources we will need
- Remind ourselves of the presence of the Holy Spirit and the resources of prayer and Scripture that we will call upon
- Affirm a process which centres on the needs of those we serve
- Commit ourselves to continuing prayer, study and reflection.
- By the end of this Unit we should be:
- Clear about the commitment we are making
- Confident of what we can do and cannot do, individually and in the Team
- Capable of explaining our purpose to the Parish and to those who might need our service.
10.3 Key Concepts
- Commitment
- Is open but defined
- Is to God, the Team and those for whom we care
- Is proportionate in our complex lives
- Is within a structure of collaboration and authority
- A Journey
- Is planned but produces surprises
- Is composed of tedium and joy
- Is collaborative and mutually supportive
- Can be broken into stages.
- Travelling with Christ
- Furnishes us with the gifts we need
- May involve sacrifice
- Requires self knowledge and repentance.
10.4 Presentations:
- Discuss the way Jesus chose and sent out his Disciples
- Explain the elements in the Commissioning
- Discuss ideas about journeys, maps and accidents
- Discuss the concept of God's gifts and the way we use them.
10.5 Case Sketches
- Nancy is so bound up with her work for the Team that her home life becomes complicated
- Ray is always late for commitments
- Sylvia embarks on a new relationship and does not know whether to stay in the Team
- Philip thinks the Course has taught him everything and he does not need any further help.
10.6 Response
- Re-examine the Ministry Specification and see whether you understand it better or whether it should be changed
- In pairs, work out an article for your Parish publication on what the Team will do and how
- Sketch a programme of continuing study
- Discuss one or more of the case sketches.
10.7 Resources
- Parish of Findon, Clapham and Patching: Commissioning of Lay Visiting Team - Sunday 3 20 October 2005
- Carey, Kevin: Notes on Journeys