Pastoral Care and Connections - March 16, 2021
Ruth Ann and I are moving to Beamsville this week. Two months of commuting is enough. If we are allowed to find positives to Covid restrictions, one is that it has allowed us to work from home more throughout the pandemic. In short, we look forward both to less driving and to less restrictions.
Having our first partially-open and in-person service just before moving day was wonderful. We were very much reminded that we are not just called to “perform” for the cameras but are moving into and among a community of uniquely engaged people. We have gotten to know staff and council and some other ministry leaders over zoom. Now it is time to get to know more of you and to put some names to faces.
But first the move. Many of you have offered your help and that is greatly appreciated. I suspect we could have filled the house with volunteers. However, there are restrictions, and we need room for the boxes and furniture. We feel badly that we cannot say yes to more of your offers and so we have come up with a way you can help without social distancing issues. We will need a vet for our dog; an optometrist; and a dentist. If you have good recommendations on any of these feel free to send them to ericks@mountainviewcrc.org or ruthann.schuringa@gmail.com Wouldn’t it be fun to tell a dentist that we chose him/her because four out of five people surveyed recommended them?
Now that we are living in the area, it will be easier for more connections. I am working through how best to get to know more of you. The easiest way: if you want me to help you take a step forward on your spiritual journey or your missional journey. However, experience suggests that you won’t easily reach out about those things. I get that, but if you want to, know that I really love to help people grow.
Beyond getting to know you as a congregation, I am thinking through how to put things in place for the long-term for pastoral care. There are a few factors to consider. The first part is that I see this community doing an excellent job of caring for each other. I trust that you all offer support to each other the way you have offered it to Ruth Ann and I. I have also seen that the pastoral elders and deacons are both good and active teams. The second part is that we need to continue to think about the connection between pastoral care and missional practice. It may be as simple as this: reach out to help those living around you in the same way you have reached out to Ruth Ann and I, or that you do with each other. This may be the simplest missional shift we can make: becoming pastoral caregivers on our street.
Finally, there is the question of staffing. Pastor Fred has kindly delayed his retirement but is willing to have us allow him to fully retire. Meanwhile, I am still processing how things are working and how I think we can adjust toward an even better future. My sense is that this will take a year. Meanwhile I am considering the idea of bringing in an intern pastor (a student from Calvin Seminary) for a year and experimenting with shared ministry while we as a community keep discussing how best to move forward in a way that both sees people cared for and moves us forward in our missional practices. Likely what you should be hearing me say here is that things might get a little messier in the next year before we settle into some new rhythms. Covid has got us used to being in a messy place; I hope it is not too much to ask that you allow me to leave you there a little longer. It is my ongoing conviction that facing some tough questions about how we function now will allow us to take good steps forward in the future. The tough question is: “How do we both care for the present community and expand our missional influence into our neighbourhoods?”
Pastor Erick