After an exciting ceremony conducted by the Rvdos. Marlin Lavanhar and Jill McAllister of the United States assisted by Rev. Tina Geels of the Netherlands, the first international meeting of ministers unit and Unitarian Universalist (UU) started with a full day of activities on Saturday, July 10 Rolduc Center in Kerkrade, in the southeastern Netherlands.
55 ministers from 14 nations met, and they had a healthy contingent of members of the Dutch Christian liberal churches Remonsatrant [ followers of Jacobus Arminius (Jacob Harmenszoon, 1560-1609) and that ' dissatisfaction 'against a 5-point Calvinist doctrine] and the Liberal Religious Community (NPB) . Met to discuss such critical issues as the call to ministry, the sources of authority religious, access to education and other matters of professional interest. However, in the heart of the meeting expressed a desire to listen and learn from colleagues around the world to seek what unites us and explore the nature of our differences.
Like many things in life, the ministry is contextual. The ministry takes place in specific communities, each with its distinctive history and cultural values \u200b\u200band pressures of the world around them. Necessarily, the ministry deeply impoverished regions such as Nigeria, the Philippines and Uganda (all represented here) will be different to the experience of ministers in richer countries, as the USA, the United Kingdom or the Netherlands. Highlights a key reason the majority of ministers in developing countries receive no payment, so they have another job outside the congregation. Theological training desirable-indeed, required-in the U.S., Canada, Transylvania, UK and the Netherlands is not accessible in regions without unity schools without resources to fund education. One goal of this conference is to help understand the different experiences of our colleagues unit in other parts of the world.
find common ground to begin the first day with a worship service led by Rvdos. David Usher and Linda Hart of London, England, who focused on what the ministers share: personal call to ministry. Few will forget the picture of David, which absorbed the need to respond to the call with the need to vomit. "You can ignore for a moment, but sooner or later ..." Laughter filled the place recognition.
Rev.
then. Marlin Lavanhar, the Rev.. Rebecca Sienne, first woman ordained in the Philippines and now president of the UU Church of the Philippines and the rev. Fulgence Ndagijimana, founder of the UU Congregation of Burundi, shared their personal stories of their way to the ministry. Although each experience was unique, common points were obvious. Whether in the ministry or another line of work, people responded to a deep inner calling to do what they do. When the call is genuine, successful, regardless of the challenges.
Like many ICUU activities, from the first day it came time to divide the Round Goblet of 5 or 6 people. These are intimate small group ministries in which we know better the other and we share deep thoughts on the topics of the day. This session explored the idea of \u200b\u200bcalling. Afternoon
Rev. Sarah Lammert of the USA we introduced a new program of the Association UU Ministers U.S. to examine in depth the ministry and to be performed, both in the USA and Canada. Rev. Brian Kiely of Canada expanded its comments about the conference that gave John Relly Beard recently (a virtual activity available at the site of International Council of Unitarians and Universalists, ICUU ) and invited several people to discuss formal ways to ministry in several nations. This conversation showed the great diversity in terms of training, resources and credentialing practices. But what was the joy of the meeting was that all were willing to recognize the other as colleagues and ministers, despite large apparent differences.
The day concluded with a fascinating evening program led by the Rev.. David Keyes from the USA. For the first time we had a real conversation about theological perspectives. We divided into two groups by the approximate position on the continuing Christian / non-Christian and asked each group to devote half an hour to reflect on the words "salvation, evil, Jesus and tradition." Asked to inform all of "What do you most like to hear the other group."
Most notable for many of us turned out that this was the first time we performed a similar discussion on an international level. It was rich, enlightening and led to many interesting conversations at the bar later. Brian Kiely
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