I am a member of a faith community that embrace eight sacraments, a faith community with a temple, or two depending on how you look at it, and a faith community called to proclaim, live, promote the peace and justice that the One who’s name we claim taught and proclaimed. I am also a minister of that tradition.
Thus we reach the title of this posts, three titles which as I have thought and reflected over the past few months keep resonating with me. Three titles out of which there is at times to me seeming to be paradox with at least one of the three. Let us work in reverse and explore…
Minister of Peace
I seek and hope for a peace not of this world, but that amazing peace of Christ. A peace that allow for disagreement, many understandings, but where differences and conflict lead to growth and understanding for all rather than pain. A peace that radiates out and transforms lives so that one day all of creation may truly be restored to the unique, mystical, and majestic harmony it is created to be from the discord of today.
Minister of Temple
I seek to embody the ministries of Temple as understood, and as not yet understood. Both present ministries, and those to come. I seek to become with my faith community “a people of the Temple – those who see violence but proclaim peace, who feel conflict yet extend the hand of reconciliation, who encounter broken spirits and find pathways for healing.” (Doctrine and Covenants 161:2a). I seek to work with others as we grow in our understanding of Temple, and the ministries of Temple. I seek and hope to aide others as they travel the spiritual pathways of the Temple and embrace the ministries of the Temple, so that we may truly be transformed individually and communally into that which the Eternal One calls us to be, that we may truly be healed, and aid in the healing of others and truly be a redeeming agent in the world. I look forward to the “additional sacred ministries that will spring forth from the Temple as rivers of living water to help people soothe and resolve the brokenness and pain in their lives”(D&C 163:8b) and seek to work with others as those ministries come to be.
The Temple, both Kirtland and Independence, are home to me. They are places of transformative encounters in my life, places of healing and growth, and I can not help but want to share my encounter with the Eternal Loving One with all who I encounter. Ever since my first three months of loving and serving in Kirtland, I have not been able to leave for long. I keep returning to serve and to find ways to help people utilize this wonderful resource that we have, this wonderful gift inspired by the Eternal and built from sacrifice and dedication of many over many decades, that is both in Kirtland and Independence.
I look forward to my long drive on Thursday that ends with my arrival in Kirtland, OH and for the possibilities that exist there as we explore and develop the ministries of Temple as a whole, and the ministries and ways to utilize the new Community of Christ Spiritual Formation Center there in Kirtland. It is a dream come true.
Minister of Sacrament
And now at long last, we arrive and the paradoxical one. “Minister of Sacrament.” What does this mean? It can’t mean one who performs the official sacraments, for though I am an ordained minister I perform none of the eight official sacraments, as I have not the authority to do so. Yet I am, and have always been a minister of sacrament in and with a people of sacrament. So what does it mean? Does it refer to other sacramental activities that are part of ministry but are not official sacraments? Perhaps. Or perhaps it does refer to those eight sacraments. Those eight sacrament that have shaped my life and the lives of many others in many ways. Those sacraments which I call people to think about, reflect, and embrace. Those sacraments which I often feel unworthy to participate in, yet fell all others should participate in and truly discern and seek out the Divine in and through them. Perhaps it also is reflective in the prayer I usually give over every cup of wine and piece of bread , when I prepare the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper for a congregation for whomever will partake of that wine and bread.
Perhaps, all three of these titles are linked so intricately that I must be all three or none. I am drawn to remember a sermon I gave several months ago at the Worthington Community of Christ. The theme for that service was “A People who dare to build the Kingdom.” Originally the service was to be held in the Kirtland Temple, but the trip was changed and so the sermon changed as well. It was Communion Sunday, The sermon revolved around both the Kirtland Temple, and in truth the ministries of the Temple as a whole, and the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. As I stood and walked about, as images of Kirtland appeared, as I broke bread, and poured wine and explored the many ways this sacrament had been experienced, and what it might mean to us today, as I spoke about what we are being called to be, it was then that I truly was reflecting all three aspects of above. Was truly realizing what it means to be a Minister of Sacrament, of Temple, and of peace.
So now as I prepare to head to Kirtland and embrace new adventures, as I prepare myself for an interview, as I prepare myself for more theological and ministerial studies, I continue to seek out what it means to be a Minister of Peace, of Temple, and Sacrament, and more importantly what it means to be part of a Community of Peace, Sacrament, and Temple that seeks to become whole and to help creation become whole once more.
Peace,
— Lyle II