Day Three in Berlin

I stayed up too late last night working on the World slideshow that I volunteered to create for this gathering,  For the last two months I have been gathering slides from groups around the world so that those of us here can catch a glimpse of the depth, the breadth and the width of the ministry that is the work of DIAKONIA around the world  It has been a blessing, a prayer blessing for me, and one that I am so pleased to be able to share with the participants of this gathering  We will play these 524 pictures after the formal presentations tomorrow night which is "Culture Night".  People will be able to watch it while holding conversations, or come and go when they feel like it.

Our presentations today challenged us to think about how diakonia is lived out in our world and we learned some about Hildegard von Bingen and her holistic approach to wholeness and healing. I took copious notes from the first speaker, not so many on Hildegard, just listened.  It is hard work to listen to simultaneous translations, and by mid afternoon, it was warm and I was sleepy.  I didn't succumb, but it was very hard work! I will need to spend some time pondering the first speaker's words before I can reflect on them. 

This afternoon we had time with our small group once again.  It was a rich time of sharing and reflection  Today, Doris Horn had to attend a meeting of the Executive Committee, so we had to translate among ourselves.  It was truly wonderful to see people step up to the job, and others recognize that they actually could speak English with clarity, (and that I am getting much better with my German!)

After dinner we held our first DOTAC regional meeting, which was attended by about 100 people.  We are so pleased with our turnout, we have 6 from Brazil, which is more than have ever come before, 6 from the Diakonia of the United Churches of Canada, 30 from the Lutheran Deaconess Association, 40 from the Order of Deaconesses, Home Missioners and Home Missionaries of the United Methodist Church.  Forgive me that I don't have the counts for all of the other groups. Everyone  participated fully in the get acquainted activity and truly seemed to enjoy themselves.  The only disappointment is that they  didn't get to hear my Treasurer's report which I KNOW is the highlight of every DOTAC gathering! :)

Then we finished with wonderful worship!  I have learned so many NEW songs this time around, I can't wait to try them at home and to teach them to my friend, Julie Kae.  It's time for pictures.

Blessings abound at this place.  Thanks be to God.

 

Back view of the Church, from Festsaal

 

ELCA Deaconesses- Liz's Community!

 

I can't resist pictures of these hats :)

 

DOTAC Regional Meeting

 

Proof that I am here -with my friends from DIAKONIA Asia Pacific

 

 

Evening Prayer on Tuesday

 

Morning Prayer this Morning

 

 

End of Day Two in Berlin

It is 7:30 pm in Berlin and I am sitting in the Hotel Christophorous on the Campus of the  Ev. Johannesstift just outside the city of Berlin.  This is the first full day of meetings as yesterday was devoted to arrivals and settling in.  My travels went very well, although we left bout 20 minutes late from Seattle we picked up time and arrived in Amsterdam only 5 minutes late. Even so, it was a VERY FAST walk through the airport and security to make it to my connecting fight to Berlin.  When I arrived at the gate, whom should I meet but Nazgul Williams from the National Association of Deaconesses, Home Missioners and Home Missionaries (NADHM)  of the United Methodist Church.  I had met Naz at the last World Gathering in Atlanta in 2009 and also again at the DOTAC Gathering in Oklahoma City in 2011.

When we landed we were given instructions to find the DIAKONIA steward in the airport who would direct us to our hotels.  As we gathered together waiting for all the scheduled arrivals for a full van, I met Vernon van Wyk, with whom I had been emailing from the Order of Deacons of the UMC of South Africa. He had given me access to many photos from his community for inclusion into the sideshow I was preparing for the gathering.  It was so fun to meet him so quickly!  Then I discovered that I was waiting with Sister Janet Stump, the newly installed Directing Deaconess of the Deaconess Community of the ELCA, and three of her other Sisters. 

This is what I love most about these gatherings, the chance to make new acquaintances and to renew those made previously.  I have seen one member of my small group from Atlanta, she comes from Norway, and lots of people who remember meeting me at their community gatherings when I have been able to attend.  I will leave this time with many more new friends.  These connections are the meat of this community  When I arrive back home I will be part of a larger community with friends around the world When I hear of tsunamis in Indonesia or uprisings in Egypt, I think about my friends Ristua and Sister Joanna.

We officially opened the gathering with an evening prayer in German and English in the beautiful church on the grounds of this place.  The Hotel Christophorus, which is where I am housed is a mere 150 meters from the church and meeting place in gorgeous grounds full of sycamore trees, cobbled walkways and green lawns.  I will try and upload some pictures, but I hear the connections are slow.  We'll see, if you see pictures, it was fast enough for me! :)

So today, Tuesday, was our first full day, and it was full, beginning with Morning Prayer in the beautiful Church on the grounds and continuing with a marvelous greeting brought by Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches and a presentation by Cornelia Coenen-Marx on Diakonia as the healing and liberative ministry of the church.  These talks were very interesting and filled with many good thoughts to ponder, but the highlight of the day for me was the first gathering of my small group. It is a tradition of these gatherings that we are placed into small groups that seek to combine people from different countries for relationship building and discussions.  Generally they fill the groups with people who can all understand either English or German, the two official languages of Diakonia.  My group was half and half; half had no English while the other half had no German!  Thankfully, Sister Doris Horn the President of DIAKONIA, joined our group and served as translator  I am finding that my German is returning fairly quickly, but I was so thankful she was there, as the conversation would not have been able to be as deep or thoughtful if they had to rely on my German and one other Sister's English!

We ended the day holding our election for our new president, and holding a DOTAC Central Committee meeting to touch base about our Regional meeting time held tomorrow.  There we all had a chance to meet "the new Anita Wood" Victoria Reback from the order of Deacons of the United Methodist Church. Anita retired this year, and Victoria is her replacement.  This is her first world gathering, as is also true for Rev. Pam Nesbitt of the Association of Episcopal Deacons, who also serves on the DOTAC CC.

As I anticipated, I have already had good, thoughtful discussion with people about my discernment process in looking for another call.  The care and concern of this diaconal community for one another is something that perhaps needs to be experienced to be fully understood.  As I spoke with Ingrit about my summer of the "B"s - which is what I am calling my travels to Berlin, Baltimore and Brazil this summer - and sharing my hopes for good insights form these diaconal gatherings, she thought about "bees" and how they move from flower t flower, picking up pollen and taking it to other flowers, and that from their travels honey is created, and flowers bear fruit.  Good analogy and metaphor with which to close this day's ponderings.  Tomorrow evening we have the Cultural night, and I expect that might run late; but I will post as I have time and the ability to sit and ponder.

Jan and Naz at the Amsterdam airport

 View of the Church at Ev. Johannesstift

 

Gathering in the courtyard in front of the Church

 

In front of the Festsaal

 

NADHM representatives Judy and Scott

Naz and friends.

 

Wiedersehnen!

Transitions: Part Two - What's Next?

What comes next? Well, I will spend the next two months travelling, and the schedule follows.  I will be visiting with friends and colleagues from around the world, attending various gatherings of our community, talking with others who are diaconal people.  I will spend time thinking about  what it means to Live Diaconally in this time, in this place. From those conversations, and those thoughts, I hope to shape or uncover the next steps in this journey.  I commit to anyone who feels like reading this blog, that I will post pictures and thoughts from all of these visits over the summer as I continue on this journey.

 

June 30 – July 8:  DIAKONIA World Federation Gathering. This quadrennial event is being held in the birthplace of the modern diaconal movement, Germany, and will be attended by members of Diaconal Associations from around the world. 

July 8-13: Following the Gathering in berlin, Jan will participate in a post-Gathering tours through Western Germany, visiting several Diaconal motherhouses, including Kaiserwerth.   In 1875 Pastor Theodor Fleidner and his wife, started the Deaconess movement in Kaiserwerth, Germany and opened the first Motherhouse for deaconesses.  This allowed unmarried young women to live outside of their family home and to do social work within the community in a socially acceptable manner.   Pastor Fliedner and his wife lived in the house with them.  These young women served primarily as nurses; in fact, Florence Nightingale was sent to the Motherhouse in Kaiserwerth from England to learn their nursing skills.  The first Deaconesses in the United States were brought to Philadelphia by Pastor William Passavant in 1895, and are the foremothers of our current Deaconess Community of the ELCA.

July 17-20: Jan will fly to Baltimore to attend the triennial National Gathering of the Diaconal Ministry Community of the ELCA, of which she is a member.   

August 16-24:  Jan will be in Porto Alegre, Brazil with the Central Committee of DOTAC (DIAKONIA of the Americas and the Caribbean). She serves as Treasurer of this Board and is the representative for the Diaconal Ministry Community of the ELCA, her own group.  The Central Committee is meeting in Brazil because the quadrennial Gathering of DOTAC will take place there in 2015, hosted by the Diaconal Ministers of the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confessions of Brazil. 

 

 

Transitions - Part One: What has Happened

May 31, 2013 was my last day of work at the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University. For a variety of reasons, most of them good and valid, the School has decided that they would not renew my contract as Ecumenical Liturgical Coordinator.  They have lots of work to do, we have done good work, much has been accomplished, and it is time for me to move on.  I am grateful for the six years that I spent at this place, learning to articulate fully both my Diaconal call, and my call as a liturgical theologian. I anticipate that God has much in store for me in the future. This has been a good place for me, a safe place, but it is time, and as it always happens, transition is not easy, it is scary; moving into the unknown can cause great concern.

On June 4, the School celebrated the leaving of four members of their community, two faculty, and two staff, one of whom was me.  It was wonderful sending.  I attended the event with mixed feelings, not really sure how it would play out, but it was very good, and I recognized that I was being lifted up and blessed on my way together with three other amazingly strong, faithful women, Dr. Mary Rose Bumpus, Dr. Marianne LaBarre, and Sue Hogan. 

My daughter videotaped my portion of the event, and you can view it here: Jan's "Closing Remarks"

If you don't like to visit YouTube (and that link also includes the generous and kind remarks of Dr. Mark Taylor, Director of the Office of worship at STM, and my friend and colleague, I insert the text of my remarks.

Sung: “Through our lives and by our prayers, your kingdom come.”

One thousand, one hundred and eleven Morning Prayers, One hundred and fifteen afternoon liturgies, sixty Mid-day Prayers, thirty Noon Eucharists, seventy prayers at seven Summer Institutes of Liturgy and Worship, ten City/Countywide Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Prayers; a total of one thousand, three hundred and ninety six liturgies….approximately… in ten years, four as graduate assistant for liturgy and six as your Ecumenical Liturgical Coordinator. 

I know, in the very core of my being, the truth of this Iona prayer, which speaks eloquently of my call to both liturgy and to diakonia. 

I know, in the very core of my being, that prayer forms us, and that corporate prayer, prayer together, in assembly, forms us in ways that are different from the ways that individual prayer forms us.

I know, in the very core of my being, that the ecumenical prayer that we experience here, in this unique School of Theology and Ministry, forms us in a way that cannot be done in any other way, into the one Body of Christ. 

I know, in the very core of my being, that the Church is the Body of Christ, a creature of the Gospel, and not only is it not ours to dis-member, but that corporate prayer is one of the primary ways in which we re-member it.

I know this, in the very core of my being, because I have been gifted with the opportunity to pray together, corporately, with members of this community, one thousand, three hundred and ninety six times…approximately… over the past ten years, and I thank you for that opportunity.

As I leave, and as you continue as a school to hold conversation about the place of corporate prayer in this school, this is my prayer for you:

Sung: “May you cling to Wisdom, for she will protect you. And if you cherish her, she will keep you safe.”

Finally, I remind you and myself, that while I have been the steward this corporate prayer for six years for you, continues to be held in the good hands of Mark and John; and I know, in the very core of my being, that the only true response to this type of event, to the work that we do together, is to give God the glory:

Sung: “Gloria, Gloria, in excelsis Deo! Gloria, glory, Alleluia, alleluia!”

Amen and Amen.