A highlight of my trip to England was a visit to John and Shirley Davies. John was the Anglican chaplain at the University of the Witwatersrand when I was an undergraduate. The community which grew under their leadership continues to shape my own vocation. Hear is what I wrote to them after the visit.
Dear John and Shirley,
. . . .. I vividly remember my first retreat in Rosettenville, finding myself at home in a community of men and women, black and white. When I was waiting outside the Johannesburg station for a bus home, being back in apartheid South Africa was so disorienting that for a moment I could not see anything – didn’t know which frame to use! It has taken me a long time to know how to translate experience of transformational community into parish ministry. The early years of my ordained ministry (after two years as a curate in Springs) were non parochial. I was able to focus on creating transformational communities on the margins of the church – Self supporting ordained ministry in Johannesburg, Theological Education by Extension groups for Laity in the USA (which developed a model and methods of theological reflection) and Congregational development teams in the Diocese of South East Florida.
In 1992 Tricia and I became jointly Rector of St. Martin’s-in-the-Field in Severna Park, Maryland, a position we held for more than 12 years. This was an opportunity to invite the parish as a whole to be a community of transformation, where each person had an opportunity to discover and live into God’s particular call. We did make progress with many individuals and together with Dylan Breuer, who was on staff at the time, created a three part curriculum to further this work. When we moved to Massachusetts in 2005 Tricia and I continued to develop the curriculum and to implement it in the parishes that we served. You can find the courses at www.saintmarksburlington.org
Prior to accepting the half-time position of priest in charge at St. Mark’s in Burlington, the lay leaders and I agreed that my role would center in empowering them to be the church. This agreement continues to guide our life together and is beginning to bear fruit. I am implementing the curriculum with positive results; I am also finding a need to strengthen the opportunities of ongoing healing, emotional, physical and spiritual. As we hear and respond to God’s call we are faced with the limits of our resources and the wounds which cripple us.
All of this is sourced by my own transformation at Wits. Thank you both for setting me on this path! I look forward to our continuing conversation.