Diocesan Mission and Ministry Fair

John Vernon

Local media had warned that Saturday May 8 was likely to experience thunderstorms. Obviously, when they chose "Siyahamb' ekukhanyen' kwenkhos" ("We are marching in the light of God"), those who planned the Mission and Ministry Fair and Acolyte Festival were thinking in bright, positive, sunny terms. At the Canterbury School in Greensboro, where this program of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina was held, the sky was blue and the sun was bright throughout the day-long program!

Registration was fast, easy and friendly, and attendees were sent on their way to enjoy orange juice, fresh fruit, and coffee. Then, it was on to the Phillips Chapel for a welcome-worship service. Friends - from your home parish or prior Diocesan events, or that you had just met - were all smiling and ready to move on to the morning workshops.

Both the morning and afternoon workshops (about 32 different offerings, if I counted correctly!) were designed to support the five objectives set out in our Diocesan Mission Strategy. In very summarized form, those five are: Spiritual Revitalization, Outreach, Church Growth, Evangelism, and Church Structure. As we walked from the chapel to the building housing the particular workshop each had elected, moods were heightened even more by the architecture of the buildings outlined against the naturally beautiful campus.

I'd chosen Servant Leadership, one of the workshops to support our Outreach objective: "To expand and extend the ministry of the community of Christ through reaching and serving all people, including those on the margins of society, with God's help." About 10 of us found our building and meeting room quickly, and our group discussion leader had each of us talking within five minutes of arriving. Several different parishes were represented and, despite differences in the backgrounds of our attendees, all were there in some stage of a process of discerning a particular call for life-giving service to the world.

Our leader was Dr. Ruth D. Anderson, Director of The Servant Leadership School of Greensboro, an inter-denominational institution. One of the ways she describes "Servant Leadership" is "shaping our lives in accordance with God's dream [for each of us]." Even listing the courses currently offered at The Servant Leadership School (just an hour's drive from Chapel Hill) would take too much space here. This selected range will have to do: from "Servant Leadership Praxis: Hunger, Feeding, Fasting and Lobbying," to "Biblical Light on Troublesome Times," to "Keeping Body, Mind and Spirit Together."

All too soon, the morning workshop ended. We all headed back to Phillips Chapel for the Acolyte Festival and Celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The Rt. Rev. Michael B. Curry, our bishop, both celebrated and thanked acolytes for their contributions throughout the Diocese. He also focused on Mission and Ministry as making disciples and making a difference by living God's dream. When none of us came up with the admittedly clear answer to a question he asked, the Bishop asked a worshiper to stand and cup her hands. He took a small dark bag from his pocket, tore the top open and began to pour the contents into her hands: M & M's - so we would remember this day and its message of Mission and Ministry! Surely none of us will ever forget Mission and Ministry! Assisted by the Rt. Rev. Alfred C. Marble, Jr., Bishop of the Diocese of Mississippi, retired, and others, the Holy Eucharist was celebrated.

Lunch (really more like a dinner!) followed, and then on to the afternoon workshop sessions, which in turn were followed by closing prayer, farewells and thank-yous! I'm not sure I saw everyone from Chapel of the Cross who attended, but I did see Vicky Jamieson-Drake, Joseph Ferrell, Gretchen Jordan, Bill Joyner, and Robert Wright - most of whom led a workshop or moderated a panel discussion! As this Mission and Ministry day ended, I left singing Siyahamb' ekukhanyen' kwenkhos' (I'm sorry, "We are marching in the light of God") to myself on the sunny ride home.