Great work being done in the City

I am continually reminded of the many people here in the city of Hamilton who are doing great work, and are leaders in this community to which the church should follow (if not partner with and help promote their work!). As I try to keep up with some of the papers and websites like "Raise the Hammer" I get glimpses of sound and honest work being done for the good of the environment, the poor, the city as a whole - JUSTICE issues that need attention. (Side-Bar reminder and encouragement to check out the 'cool websites and blogs' section of this blog that highlights some great things happening that we in the Hammer should be aware of)! I am in the midst of some planning for the Truecity conference coming up in February which reminded me of the efforts being done to address poverty in our city. There are some great stories by churches on their involvment in this area. As well, as I sit around the table of local community members and agencies at our CrownPoint Community meetings, I get excited about the interest and desire by folks to look out for each other, like addressing the increasing rat infestation in homes occuring as a result of the Centre Mall deconstruction, or the support of grandparents in our midst who are raising their grandchildren (ROCK). I love this city, and love that people from all walks of life are investing in it and each other, because we should.

The necessity of conflict in congregations

I would be the last to say that I thought there could be a necessity in conflict - I tend to avoid conflict as much as possible (and I know I'm not alone). However, I'm learning that there is room for healthy conflict, "because congregations without conflict are dead or dying". On the flip side, "a byproduct of conflict is energy and passion" - and New Hopers have demonstrated these two attributes many times specifically over the past year. We are heading into a new year, but also a time to take stalk of where we are, how we got here and where we are going as a community of hope in the east end of Hamilton. We have had, over the past months, some different perspectives of ministry within our body. We need to continue to dialogue about these perspectives or it will drain the passion and energy of the body. But I am expectant and hopeful for this coming year. We have acknowledged and named this tension and are working towards taking ownership of where we individually contributed to the tension, and we are moving forward together, to see how God is shaping us and calling us into our community in this coming year.

Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful Christmas eve dinner together. We had ample amounts of leftovers, some great Christmas carol singing (with a few extra diddies like Elvis), and an opportunity to share and reflect on Christmas. We talked about hope, and what living in that hope would look like for this New Hope community. Peter shared about being "in-tune" with God and demonstrating this with his hand to his head like a satelite dish on his head (either way - the image is now stuck in your head too!). We all agreed, hope in this community and living lives of hope would create a safe place of acceptance, forgiveness and anticipation. So, let's see what 2009 brings! The evening was certainly a highlight of 2008 for many of us, but we cannot fail to see and acknowledge the many ways God has answered prayer and blessed us this entire year. Our motley crew of a family has grown together, struggled together, and can already anticipate some hard work ahead of us. But God loves us, forgives us and gives us GRACE. I look forward to recognizing and tasting this GRACE so much more this coming year - and desiring to share that freedom and grace with my community.