Prisms

A new resource from the Congregational Life Centre

The following is an excerpt from the resource Prisms to be published by the Congregational Life Centre in the early fall.

Clair is a grandfather. That means relating to five incredible granddaughters. Joyce is a grandmother. Get her started on her four grandsons and there is no stopping her.

What is our role as grandparents? Clair's granddaughter Carys is very clear about that. "Your role is to spoil me!" Well, that is true. But there is a deeper role, and that is to encourage and bring out all the gifts that young women and young men have inside them.

For Carys it meant spotting the ability to be right on key when singing a song. Encouraging that musical ability led to sponsoring membership in a children's choir. Observing granddaughter Paige's sketches led to buying a full set of artist's paints for her birthday. Seeing Haley's musical ability with a toy keyboard led to purchasing her a full-sized piano.

Joyce spotted a natural curiosity in Carson for understanding what was going on around him. That led to a trip to the star theatre. He was able to explain a concept of time to his mother that he had learned in a way that was beyond Grandma's comprehension. Walking with Maclean at Radium, Joyce found him asking about the various plants and natural formations. Christmas and birthday presents celebrate his interest in nature and how things grow. When three year old grandson Joe takes on a persona, he becomes that person, and Grandma has to relate to that persona in order to talk to him. Granddaughters. Grandsons. Fascinating potential that need recognition and encouragement to blossom into full-blown gifts.

Is it any surprise that the key role of the church is exactly the same - to help individuals identify their spiritual gifts and to encourage their full development?

Identifying gifts is the first step. Not everyone realizes where their potential lies, or what their gifts are. It is as if we are too close to see ourselves. Others, looking from the outside, are sometimes able to see something we miss.

Recognizing our gifts is one thing. Having the courage to go ahead and develop them is another. There is a lot of pressure on young people to "fit in." In a recent article in the United Church Observer (February 2003), author Jim Lawson points out how "leadership" has been a bad word in that denomination for the past thirty years. The emphasis on equality and everyone participating, when taken to the extreme, can result in the failure to recognize a particular gift for leadership - or any of the other gifts which make us unique.

Today incredible specialization in almost every profession has made complex treatment, tailor-made products and customized services available. Is it any surprise that people expect their congregation to meet their specific needs? Good restaurants have waiters that inform people about their specialties. They know it's the dishes where they excel that will bring people back time and time again. Congregations, likewise, need to make it clear to first time visitors what their specialties are. It also means being on the lookout for lay people and clergy with gifts in those specialization areas.

Paul shared his concept of gifts with the congregation at Corinth (I Cor. 12). Our individual strengths are God-given gifts, and the church needs the gifts of many people working in harmony in order to fulfill the mission God has assigned it. It is that diversity that gives a congregation its richness.

Paul also told that same congregation that the greatest gift of all was love (I Cor. 13). What does it mean to love? If you love someone, you want the very best for them. You want them to become what God intends them to be, to develop their full potential, to know their gifts and to use them. To be the church means nothing more than this, but also nothing less.

Congregational Life Newsletter Vol. 9 No. 2 April 2003

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