Welcome!

Welcome to my blog. As I noted in my profile, it records some of my meandering thoughts as I serve as the first full-time ministry developer for Western Maryland. "Ministry developer" is one of my many “hats” for the Region and the Diocese of Maryland. As a ministry developer, I have both the joy and the challenge of companioning others as we all become people of MOAB. Not Moab like Naomi and Orpah of the Book of Ruth, but MOAB as in Ministry Of All the Baptized. As baptized Christians, we are called to use our God-given gifts to serve God and the Church in the world. According to the Episcopal Catechism, on our baptisms, God adopts each of us as God’s children and “makes us members of Christ’s Body, the Church, and inheritors of the kingdom of God.” (Book of Common Prayer p. 858)  Perhaps more clearly, when we renew our our Baptismal Covenant with God and Christ, we affirmatively agree that we will proclaim the Good News of God in Christ, seek to find and serve Christ in all persons, and strive for justice and peace in the world. Ministry is not something restricted to the ordained. All baptized Christians are called to serve God and Christ and to do so by serving to achieve justice and peace for all others. But we are hesitant to take the risk—to take the plunge into the waters of our baptisms—to do just that. It is easier in some ways to allow others to do the work. It is easier in many ways to wait for another person to act and then follow along. Sure, there are leaders and there are followers. We need both, but each of us is gifted, and each of us is required to use those gifts. We are all members of the whole and the whole is not whole without our contributions, whatever those might be. Encouraging others to demonstrate and use their gifts is my mission. Supporting them in that service is part of that mission. As I travel and spend time with the various people of the Region, I learn so much about the rainbow of gifts that the people have. Such an array of gifts, shining forth and complimenting the hues and textures of the gifts exhibited by others! Such a rich array! It is awesome! And much like a rainbow, it never ends. With each effort that we take to find the limitations on our gifts, we see the rainbow just spreads further. It just spreads further and further, with the pot of gold being something shared with all.

Thank you for joining me in this meandering pilgrimage of exploring and pondering ministry development and our shared ministry in the Church. More thoughts about this grand pilgrimage later….

Theresa