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March 10, 2010
Welcome Presbyters!
One of the discoveries I
made in the beginning stages of our Presbytery restructuring was the value of practising
slow thinking while doing fast
walking. This enables us, as a team, to empty ourselves of old ways and fill up
with new ones. This also allows the staff and volunteers to work with smiles
and sometimes with laughter. I also appreciate how these faithful members of
the leadership team try to look at our ministry from a different angle and
discover new possibilities in the countless sources and needs of this new
ministry. I value the passion, love and energy of these wonderful people which
reveals the beauty of God within Toronto
Southeast Presbytery.
We have been focusing on the things that are
necessary in the beginning stages while dreaming big. During this time, I
believe that the most important thing we have to keep in mind is “building
trusting relationships”. Any faith
community, from its start, must assume that it is being built on the basis of trusting
relationships. From reflecting on TSP’s journey, I can affirm that working from
such a base results in building unity while recognizing each other’s genuine
passion and love for the church and valuing each other’s God given gifts even
though they are different from ‘mine’.
The January Presbytery meeting turned out very well. The
Agenda
Planning Team received your evaluations and they were very positive. We received 90 returns,
which reveals the high energy of the Presbytery as a whole and the passion of
the individual presbyters. From these evaluations, I could sense the presbyters’
passion for the Presbytery ‘without a single exception’. I am confident that we, as a presbytery, will
have a bright future since I recognise the Presbytery members’ and staff’s
creative approach to dealing with difficult tasks using their listening skills
to attend to every small voice.
The Executive has designated a task group to review governance issues and
to hear what needs to be adjusted or clarified. As I reviewed the governance
handbook, I reaffirmed the caring spirit of our Presbytery. To be a caring
community means that we come closer to each other while connecting the presbytery
with the congregations. All the Executive members have agreed to visit each
congregation by invitation. This will be another way we can strengthen trusting
relationships within the Presbytery as one body. We are a presbytery that cares
for both congregations and presbyters. I hope we can form a pastoral care team
within the Presbytery by sharing the thoughts of the people who obviously love
the church.
One of our most important responsibilities as a presbytery is that we are
part of a decision making body. At this March meeting, we will deal with Remit
#3. This will be an occasion for expressing our love for both the local unit
and the whole of the United
Church. It will be a
great learning event for us as we express our passion and integrity for the
mission and identity of the Church as a whole. We will also have the introduction
of ordinands and admittands as they move forward in their call to ministry. This Presbytery meeting will be another
opportunity to learn from each other and continue to get to know more about our
friends and colleagues through sharing and listening to one another.
Blessings,
John Lee
Chair, Toronto Southeast Presbytery, Toronto
Conference, The United Church of Canada
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