Leadership for the Future -- Part I

Yesterday afternoon warden Al Shuckra and I drove to Berkeley Divinity School at Yale for the first part of a conference exploring leadership models for the church of the future. Made possible by the generosity of the David and Sara Carson Foundation, this evening's events consisted of an opening welcome and introduction from Dean Joseph Britton of Berkeley, Dean Harry Attridge of Yale Divinity School, and a description of a new initiative for training school chaplains at Berkeley. We then offered Evening Prayer and heard an inspiring sermon by Dean Samuel Lloyd from Washington National Cathedral, in which he spoke of the present financial crisis and the many other crises facing us both in the church and in the world as experiences of death, and reminded us that as Christians living in the world death is often a prelude to life. The world offers us both -- death and life -- will we see death as the final outcome, or see it as the passageway to new light and new life?

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Please pray this week for the Christian, Jewish and Muslim students who are participating in Hartford Seminary's Building Abrahamic Partnerships course through Sunday. A reminder that some students will be joining us for worship on Sunday morning as they do twice each year. This is also a reminder to us that in some cultures it is inappropriate for people to engage in physical touch with a person of the opposite sex in many circumstances. Please extend a warm welcome to our guests this weekend -- and remember that unless a person of the opposite sex whom you do not know extends their hand to you, a simple smile and nod of the head will be interpreted as a most gracious welcome.

Another reminder: Starting next Wednesday at 6 p.m. and continuing for three Wednesdays (June 10, 17 and 24!) we will have a pot luck supper (please feel encouraged to share your favorite ethnic foods!) followed by a presentation of highlights from our trip to the Holy Land in April. Even if you can't share a dish, by all means please join us for an evening of good food, fellowship and sharing! Next Wednesday we will be recounting our time in and around the Old City of Jerusalem. Hope to see you there!

Have a blessed day! Your brother in Christ, Don+