Always Forward: Committed to a Common Mission
by Tuck Bartholomew
Images by Abbi Wensyel Photography thanks to Always Forward
Each year church planters from across the Anglican Church in North America gather for training and fellowship under the banner of “Always Forward,” the Province’s church planting initiative. This year Canons Dan Alger and Molly Ruch, who lead Always Forward invited Canons of Church Planting from across the Province to come out early for a retreat in Colorado Springs. They wanted to lead us in a shared conversation about methods and process, training and strategizing, and open space for us to build friendships. All of this happened and we walked away grateful for new friendships and a renewed imagination for further collaboration—sharing ideas, but also our lives, with one another.
This was an important gathering for those of us that “operate” on top of each other—remember all the overlapping jurisdictions that fill the same geographic space as us. Six others also operate in the space we call home. These emerging friendships cultivated real trust. It is easy to get so bogged down in differences and the unique nuance we bring to our Anglican expression that we don’t take time discern that we are all gazing in the same direction, at Jesus, and we are all committed to a common mission—faithful gospel witness through the work of church planting. It was a gift to have the time to build trust in such a beautiful setting. After the agendas died down and several of us were sitting by the fire, one Canon turned to me and said, “These conversations give me hope.”
“After the agendas died down and several of us were sitting by the fire, one Canon turned to me and said, ‘These conversations give me hope.”
As we neared the end of our time as Canons and prepared to transition to the main conference, Curt Thompson joined us. Curt is a psychiatrist who has written several books related to soul care. He was the keynoter for the conference, speaking largely on themes of his latest book, The Soul of Desire. Curt reminded us frequently, “You can’t give what you don’t have.” The relevance was palpable. Maybe you saw Tish Harrison Warren’s recent article in the New York Times, “Why Pastors are Burning Out.” Some 42% of pastors have considered quitting over the last year. There are so many things in modern life that assault our calling and our work, and the pandemic has accelerated already broken patterns. Curt’s simple reminder that you can’t give what you don’t have may be one of the most understated realities related to burnout. Clergy and lay leaders spend their days creating an incarnational space in which insiders and outsiders can experience the God who loves them. Curt asked the Canons, “Who is providing incarnational love for you—if it isn’t happening at some point you won’t have it to give away.”
“Curt asked the Canons, ‘Who is providing incarnational love for you—if it isn’t happening at some point you won’t have it to give away.”
Five or so years ago, I stumbled into a spiritual direction intensive with Michael Cusick, a therapist in the Denver area. He said something very similar to me at the time. “Tuck, you have done a pretty good job self-curating your spiritual life and growth. You have shared your story deeply with a few friends you hand-picked, and you have seen therapists at key moments when you needed it most, but you haven’t been in a community that you weren’t in charge of and in which your story could be held by others.” And I thought—you are right and it is exhausting! But this is the story of most clergy.
“And I thought—you are right and it is exhausting! But this is the story of most clergy.”
As the Canons heard Curt’s question, each of us could at least say, I think these first days we spent with one another was a nascent start to becoming a community for one another—not just so we do our job better or more strategically, but to be a community that anchors our work among relationships in which we experience God’s incarnational love.
The Rev. Tuck Bartholomew is the Canon for Church Planting for the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic.
Images (above and below) by Abbi Wensyel Photography thanks to Always Forward
