This was the unofficial theme of the orientation weekend of PWRDF’s 50 Leaders program 2010 intake.
The 50 Leaders program is designed to embrace and strengthen the leadership capabilities of 50 young Anglicans from across the country over a 5 year period. This initiative is a chance for PWRDF to intentionally give a gift to the wider church, both for today and tomorrow. We may not be big, but we carry a lot of power and potential in our smallness.
Our weekend was held at the guesthouse of the Sisters of St. John the Divine in Toronto in early December. Facilitating the weekend were Sheilagh McGlynn (justgeneration.ca Facilitator), Rachel Pollesel (PWRDF intern), and the Rev. Laura Marie Piotrowicz (chaplain). The weekend focused on the history and structure of PWRDF, the components of the 50 Leaders program (the orientation weekend, self-directed educational component, immersion experience, spiritual mentoring, and leading justice initiatives at home), recognition of spiritual gifts, and personal spirituality reflecting our passion for justice. We prayed together with prayers from around the globe, walked the labyrinth, experienced different ways of reading scripture, and attended an Eco-Sabbath at a local parish (a gathering where the daily scriptures are studied through the lens of ecological theology).
The weekend began as we were welcomed by Executive Director Adele Finney, who introduced the notion of Edge Habitat, encouraging us all to seek and embrace that creative tension that comes from being in the edge, and to recognise that the people with whom we partner always live in edge habitat. We were then blessed to have one of the Three Cantors, The Rev. Canon David Pickett, join us in our ice-breaking games (which of course involved chocolate). David shared some of his journey with the PWRDF through the Cantors, highlighting the need to listen to that unexpected voice that will take us from individual smallness to great potential.
Our Saturday journey included a vibrant presentation from Suzanne Rumsey, Public Engagement Program Coordinator. Suzanne shared with us how the PWRDF engages in the world through partnerships and with Anglicans here at home. The Rev. Dawn Leger presented an exercise in gifts discernment, recognising our spiritual gifts as not simply things from which we benefit, but rather skills that God gives us to share with the world around us. We discussed the need for a spiritual mentor, someone with whom we can journey on a faith-based level to enrich our experience of justice in action.
On Sunday, we spent some time determining what issues were calling us to take part in them, and trying to decide how we might engage in them. As an example of faith in action, our participation in the Eco-Sabbath demonstrated how justice work can be done because of and through our faith.
We went home on Sunday afternoon, having had an exciting and intense time together. The weekend acted as a spark, giving us the chance to burst into flame and action in our home communities. Had we been a big group, we would not have had the same type of bonding, laughter and connection that we did. We celebrate that we are not big but that what we can accomplish as a result of this program, through the grace of God, is bigger than our imaginations allow.