July 27, 2017
Unity...Service...and Joy
Christine Sorensen, APM Program Chair
As Program Committee Chair, one of the most exciting tasks we as a Board have at our June retreat is the discernment of a theme for our year. Some years a theme surfaces quickly. Other years there is more energy that is required as we talk among ourselves and attempt to be attentive to the urgings of the Spirit.
This year the theme that we will build on through our programs is UNITY… SERVICE… JOY. This theme was inspired by the talk given by Catherine Cory at our May banquet. Our ministries, grounded in the desire to serve our God, is embraced in this theme by two gifts of the Spirit – Unity and Joy.
The times we are living in are divisive and there seems to be a spiritual struggle at large to remain striving for the oneness, hope and joy that the Gospel proclaims. We as ministers who walk in these times may also find ourselves feeling disheartened and confused. But it is our task as Baptized ministers to witness to unity and joy through the service we are called to do.
The APM Program Committee is feverishly working over these summer days (okay, feverishly is hyperbole!) to contact speakers who will bring us perhaps to a new and deeper understanding and appreciation of UNITY…..SERVICE…and JOY. Check our website for updates! Blessings and peace to you all