From Mother Megan:
You may have seen on the news that the knitting site Ravelry has made waves by banning vocal support of the president's policies on their website. Ravelry, although you may not have heard of it before, has over 8 million users, and is basically the Facebook/Twitter of the fiber arts world. The heads of Ravelry explain in their policy that their goal is to make the site safe for all people, especially people of color, LGBTQ+ folks, and others who are directly negatively affected by the president's actions, and so while everyone is welcome to support whoever and whatever they wish off the site, on the site, these rules are in force. This is how we wish to behave as a community.
This got me to pondering what sort of User Agreement policy would make sense here at the church. On the diocesan visioning team, we are in the process of talking about a Rule of Life--which is basically just that: a guide for how we will live together as a community.
Rules of life are helpful, because as welcoming as we want to be, and as welcoming as we believe we are, we still will fall short. We will still drift into unconscious behaviors and patterns that counteract what we say we are trying to be, and when this happens, a rule of life can draw us back to our better selves.
The diocesan rule of life---which is very much a draft--is below:
1. Pray: We are in a constant conversation with God.
2. Listen: We listen and learn, with special attention to the voices of silenced and marginalized people.
3. Collaborate: We partner within, and beyond, our congregations.
4. Speak: We tell the truth with courage and integrity.
5. Share: We boldly share the stories of our lives of faith.
The visioning team is still working on this--again, it is a draft. But I invite you to ponder what your own rule of life would be. How do you structure your life so you are following Christ to the best of your ability in every way, and making the world a truer reflection of God's love? How might the diocese, and St. John's, do the same?
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