Have you ever found yourself in the presence of someone who was greatly overwhelmed, and you felt powerless to ease their pain? Recently while participating in a meeting for a rally to highlight the plight of people living under the oppression of poverty, the moderator of the meeting was being criticized by the participants because he apparently made a decision without securing approval from the group.
Because of this, the group felt left out and their emotions started getting reactive. Soon, I felt my own anxiety increasing. I took a deep breath and asked the group, “What do you need today?” Slowly, the tone of the meeting changed. Words like trust, confidence, and fairness began to emerge. I wondered, “Is this not what God asks us every day, beckoning us to the ministry of reconciliation?”
It seemed as if in the midst of our tensions and anxieties God was asking us, “What do you need today to embrace my call?”
In the verse preceding the well-known verse of Micah 6:8, The Message version reads, “How can I stand up before God and show proper respect to the high God?” The prophet ponders on response to God, “shall I give… the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” God has created and empowered each of us numerous gifts, passions, and experiences for how we respond to the prophet Micah’s question.
But, what if we changed the question? What if in the midst of our emotions, feelings, anxieties, and even as we ponder the sins of our souls, we stopped to ask God “What do you need from me today?”
Last year’s special offering reminded us that everyone has a story, would you join us this year and let yours be one of doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly before God?
Through your giving to Reconciliation Ministry, our churches are hosting “One Bag of Tea” conversations where everyone voice is valued; our Youth are leading and teaching faith-rooted activism; and our leaders are developing and participating in educational opportunities that promote justice that heals and love that binds us together with our God and neighbors.
Will You Embrace the Call?
About the Special Offering
The Special Offering is used to fund our Church’s mission imperative to become an pro-reconciling and anti-racist church utilizing experiential education, inclusive worship and intentional dialogue. Our efforts to promote healing, relationship and restoration in the whole family of God are enlivened by funds from this offering. Through it we are able to provide programs for leadership development, curriculum for dialogue and learning, and partnerships within the Church and our communities.
Recent events have reignited the conversation about human brokenness evidenced in the sin of racism and perpetuated in our institutional structures and systems. Your generous giving to Reconciliation Ministry is transforming lives and strengthening Christ’s witness in the world showing that we love one another, even as Christ continues to love us!
Donations on behalf of emergency grants on behalf of impacted communities and congregations toward healing for the communities of Ferguson, Staten Island, Charleston, S.C., and Baltimore can be directed to the Reconciliation Annual Fund/Racial Justice Response.
To contribute to Reconciliation Ministry Annual Fund click HERE. Thank you in advance for your prayerful support.
