CRC GENERAL ASSEMBLY ASSEMBLÉE GÉNÉRALE 2006

1. CRC GENERAL ASSEMBLY ASSEMBLÉE GÉNÉRALE 2006 LEADERSHIP AND RECONCILIATION June 10, 2006

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

9. OVERVIEW OF REFLECTIONS • Setting the Context • Spirituality of Reconciliation • Fractures within and among Religious Congregations • Role of Congregational Leaders • Readiness for Leadership

10. Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party We pledge to walk together And 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.

11. WEB OF RELATIONSHIPS

12. SPIRITUALITY OF RECONCILIATIONROOTS • Rooted in the interconnectedness of all creation • Expressed through right relationships with • God • Self • Others • Church • Earth

13. 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

14. 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)

16. SPIRITUALITY OF RECONCILIATIONRUPTURE 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

17. SPIRITUALITY OF RECONCILIATIONRESPONSE Compassion is born in the soil of vulnerability. MarieChin (1999)

18. 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.

19. 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)

20. SPIRITUALITY OF RECONCILIATIONRESPONSE • 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 Belief • Betrayal and Promise • Powerlessness and Power • Exclusion and Belonging • Suffering and Hope

21. RECONCILIATION AND STORY • Storyteller and Listener linked and engaged • Physically • Emotionally • Spiritually • Intellectually • Socially • Invites and draws all present into participation • Bridges to other places and to other times: past, present and future

22. 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

23. 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

25. SPIRITUALITY OF RECONCILIATIONRESPONSE Communities that work hardest for internal reconciliation are the ones most eager to work for social reconciliation. Jon Sobrino (1986)

26. RECONCILIATION IS NOT . . . • Passive acquiescence to injustice • Persistence in unjust structures because they are familiar

27. RECONCILIATION IS . . . • An awe-full responsibility • A journey from sin to healing • A continuous, ongoing, lifelong reality • Intentional • Based in sincerity, sensitivity, interdependence

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. How can we dare Wisdom in the mosaic of our realities? Inès Maria dell’ Eucaristia, fdls

32. 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

33. CHALLENGE OF CULTURE TRANSFORMATION

34. LEADERS LIVING ON THE EDGE

35. LEADERS LIVING ON THE EDGE • Within the Congregation • Between the Congregation and the Church • Between the Congregation and the Society • With other Congregations

36. 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

38. 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

40. Beannacht ("Blessing") On the day whenthe weight deadenson your shouldersand you stumble,may the clay danceto balance you. And when your eyesfreeze behindthe grey windowand the ghost of lossgets in to you,may a flock of colours,indigo, red, green,and azure bluecome to awaken in youa meadow of delight.

41. Beannacht (« Bénédiction ») When the canvas fraysin the currach of thoughtand 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 slowwind work these wordsof love around you,an invisible cloakto mind your life. ~ John O'Donohue ~