Diversity, rethinking and re-imagining elephants!

I'm doing to do some thinking out of the box here and running an idea up the flagpole to see who salutes as we discuss the elephant in the room. Yes indeed I'm looking to see us 'rest in the Lord' as we consider the linearities of the performance and training indicators and stop rushing around so much being concerned with the lost and, instead, redefine our mission and priorities to redefine a 'Twenty-first century church'.

Actually - what I'm really trying to do is live within the reality that diversity does not necessarily mean division, for the Missioner cannot say to the Ministerial Development Offices, 'I have no need of you, it's all about being out there in the admission field doing the stuff!'

Neither can the director of Ministry say to the worker in the vineyard, 'We need to concentrate on what Church 'should' look like and train the ministers accordingly (remembering at all times that the day of clerical dominance is fast fading and the empowering of the laity (with or without a label) is now the new 'opportunity'!'

The reality is that, jargon, buzzwords (and elephants) are all a distraction for difference and diversity are the foundations upon which strong diocesan structures are built. To have those who are being trained, trained such that they can 'do the stuff' and to have those engaged in mission informing the training and helping to shape it is a no brainer. To have those who sit in the hallowed corridors of power seeking to train without realising that the winning and cure of souls is still part of the mandate upon which they operate, and for all those in the diocese to have as their raisin d'être to BT the missio dei, is essential.

What are the implication for us, as Church, if we cannot work together?

The answer is simple - it is division - and truly a house divided against itself cannot stand!

Pax