Giving thanks where its due

A number of delegates to the convention were impressed when I said that I was present largely through the largesse of my home congregation at Wembley Downs. So this would be a good spot to say thanks to folk like John & Margaret Somerville and Ken Patterson and my church board and elders who prodded me when I was humming and harring as to whether I would attend this gathering. It seems that congregations that are alive to the passion and vision of the Stone-Campbell heritage, while enthusiastic in a local or regional setting, are straining to catch the global vision. Many jurisdictions are experiencing the anxiety of restructure and are thus internally focused. It will always be incumbent upon a few, across all three streams, to be a kind of “global Jiminy Cricket” – voices to keep reminding us that we need to remember where we came from in order to know where we are going. So my thanks to Wembley Downs for their largeness of vision and the will to put strength (and their minister) behind it.

By the way, Jenny tells me a lot of folk have been reading this blog and discussing it. How about bringing the conversation on line and using the “comments” box at the end of each entry. You can sign anonymous!