Greetings from Greyson
the generative imagining of our Pride Planning committee meetings, the delight in members of our community stepping forward to join our children’s ministries, and the joy in getting to build deeper relationships by meeting Pilgrims in homes and favorite eateries.
I feel the swirlings of faith formation in each of these moments, and yet I am aware that the word “faith” can still sometimes be off-putting, especially to those of us who come from experiences of church hurt. In my childhood, I was taught that “faith” meant obedience to white Jesus who loved the United States best. Now I’ve come to think of faith as something that forms, takes shape, then morphs into something new again and again in the small moments of our individual and collective lives. Faith is a living thing that grows along with us.
Discussions around what drew us into community together is a discussion of faith. Conversations around what rituals we feel moved by are conversations of faith. Living into how we carry our shared work to co-create a thriving congregation and a just world for all are matters of faith. Faith, to me, is not about obedience to an ideal but is rather a practice of connection to ourselves, to others, to the Earth, and to that which is Greater Than Us. Each moment we lean into these connections is a moment where faith swirls into formation, ready to take on new shape and new life with each new connective experience.
I am grateful to be so wonderfully connected to each of you in this community and so excited to get to share in our faith-forming work together.
Greyson