Arnprior Assembly: Beginnings

At the meeting of the Ottawa and Madawaska Rivers, lies the town of Arnprior. Within this town, 106 leaders of the denomination (yours truly having been invited as one such delegate) have gathered to address the question: "What ministry does God require of The United Church of Canada in its third generation?"

As expected, the first sessions focussed on the purpose of our Assembly (no one really knew much about what would happen) and community-building exercises. Unexpectedly, there was a deliberate absence of flipcharts, name tags, table groups, facilitators, or a published agenda. Talk about living in the face of the unknown! Indeed, much of the program (plenary discussions and worship) relies on the principle of self-resourcing, that we as full participants will tend to the needs as they arise, fully confident the resources and knowledge are among our gathered group.

The hope for our time together is not so much to answer the question posed above, but to respond to it with dialogue. Primarily, listening to each other, and for God. Holding one another in community with Care and Compassion, we might reach Common Ground.

This meeting isn't supposed to be some secret cabal hatching a conspiracy, so I'll try to re-present the goings on of our time here. If you want to make comments on some the issues that I will share over the next few days, I could offer them to the Assembly, where appropriate. In the meantime, your prayers are invited and appreciated.