The source of all church power,
from popes to pastors, from mother superiors to novices, from lay ministers to
people in the pews, is, we know, the Holy Spirit. And church power is always,
at heart, pastoral power. It’s power given for the care and flourishing of God’s
people. Church power, in all its forms, is meant to hold us in harmony with God’s
unseen order. It isn’t wilful; it isn’t controlling. It is slow to condemn and
slow to excommunicate. Rather, it’s meant to hold us in God’s mercy. It’s meant
to hold us in Christ’s arms where we experience the healing touch and feel the
breath of the divine. That’s the heart of the church’s power – to gather and to
hold to tell again and again the story of God’s fidelity, to break the bread
and share the cup. Donald
Cozzens
I read this and immediately apply
it to my call as a deacon. This is the heart of my ministry and the reason for
my call. I might add the thought of how this power, gifted to the church by the
Holy Spirit, is a power to reach out and touch all God’s children and all of
creation; that pastoral power extends out to all whether in or out of the
church. The Gospel reading this week was John 4 where Jesus passes through
Samaria and reaches out with grace to a Samaritan woman staying two days and
touching many. This is my call as a deacon and our call as the church.
