In the Style of Paul

“Greetings, brothers and sisters in Christ,

“Do not be afraid; you are not alone. We thank our God every time we remember you because of your faithfulness in joy and sorrow. We, along with you, surrender to God in order to become ever more aware of God’s grace. Our hope for you is unshaken, for our God is always faithful. We are confident that the God who began a good work in you will bring it to wholeness in Jesus Christ.”

At the spring meeting of the BC Conference Executive, those present studied Paul’s greetings to the churches in Corinth and Philippi. These three greetings are quite different from one another (I Cor. 1:4-9, II Cor.1:3-7 and Phil. 1:3-7), and in small groups, Executive members considered which greeting felt most “appropriate” for their own community of faith at this time, then identified key words in all of the greetings as we considered the life of the wider church.

In the large group, the Executive then spontaneously crafted a greeting to the Conference, based on those Pauline greetings.  Please consider this greeting from the BC Conference Executive in your ministry.  Ask participants in your community of faith to consider the key words that encourage and embolden them for ministry at this time.

Blessings,
BC Conference Executive

~ excerpts taken from an e-mail sent by BC Conference on May 18, 2016