Relationships First

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

At our vestry retreat a few weeks ago, we got trained in something very simple: talking.

 

Jessica Sarriot, the lead organizer for VOICE (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement) joined with our own seminarian, the Rev. Gabriel Oakes, to model and coach us in relational meetings.  These meetings are a cornerstone of community organizing.  They are like an ordinary conversation, except they are anything but ordinary.  They intentionally dive beneath the surface.  Relational meetings are intended to understand a person’s deep motivations and concerns.

 

Our vestry is still talking about how to use our training.  I hope we’ll be able to share our lessons more broadly soon.

 

But I have already been thinking about relationships in the course of our life together.  Our community is built on connection.  We have identified belonging as one of our core values.  Everything that we do is designed to encourage relationships: dinners at the Lenten series, coffee hour on Sunday, Foyer groups, bible studies, our prayer list, and so many other ministries.

 

How can we go deeper?  How can we come to know one another at the next level—not just casually or socially, but at the level of deep meaning and conviction?

 

I encourage you to prioritize relationships—here at Grace, out there in your life.  We live in a culture that is task-oriented and transactional.  Time is a commodity.  But in the church, we assign value differently.  Connecting with one another is an act of resistance against all the forces that dehumanize.  One real, significant conversation has the potential to be transformative.

 

I want Grace Church to be different than the other spaces we inhabit.  My hope is that people come here and feel known.  Here we belong to God, and so of course we must also belong to one another.

 

I look forward to talking about it with you.

 

Yours in Christ,

Anne+