Reverend Sue Turner

We are an Open Spiritual Community in the North Georgia Mountains

Reverend Sue Turner

I certainly did enjoy myself two weeks ago when I visited for the first time and received such a warm welcome. Today, as I write these reflections for your newsletter, I am happily looking forward to this Saturday and

participating in your leadership retreat.

I am beginning to live into my covenant with you. I want you to remember the promises I made to you in my last Sunday morning message. So these are my covenant, directly from my sermon:

"As I have come here and promised to be in ministry with you three days a month for this year, it seems it might be helpful for me to clarify my promises to you:

• I promise to speak the truth to you as I see it, and to listen with my whole heart to your experiences.

• I promise to be attentive to my spiritual life, that what I share with you may be healthy.

• I promise to pay attention to what has heart and meaning and to invest my energy in those things.

• I promise to attend to relationships with you that honor the potential in each of us.

• I promise to show up at meetings, and events and activities, and to be present at activities that make this congregation a healthy community.

• I promise to care for my own well being and health by seeking a balance in my days for friends and family, work, and time for my self - that I may continue to learn, and nurture my spirit.

• I promise to share my skills and knowledge and expertise as I see they might be useful, trusting you to decide how you will make use of them.

In these vows, I promise to be faithful to you."

These are my intentions and my covenant with you. The questions I ask of you are these:

• What are your promises to yourself as a part of this church?

• What are your promises to other members of the church?

• What are your promises to the leaders of the church?

I invite you to think about these questions. What are your promises? What is your part in our covenant?

I look forward to our time together this year. On my desk, near my computer, I keep these words of inspiration. It helps describe my hopes and feelings about the journey we are beginning. May it deepen your thoughts as it does mine.

-- Reverend Sue, October 2008

My eyes already touch the sunlit hills going far ahead of the road I have begun.

So we are grasped by what we cannot grasp. It has its inner light, even from a distance, and changes us, even if we don't reach it, into something else, which hardly sensing it, we already are.

A gesture waves us on, answering our own wave, but what we feel is the wind in our faces.

--- Ranier Maria Rilke


Monthly Happenings Calendar Sunday Services, Fellowship, Social Action & More About Us Living Tradition Seven Principles History Location & Contact Info	home We are an Open Spiritual Community in the North Georgia Mountains Reverend Sue Turner I certainly did enjoy myself two weeks ago when I visited for the first time and received such a warm welcome. Today, as I write these reflections for your newsletter, I am happily looking forward to this Saturday and participating in your leadership retreat. I am beginning to live into my covenant with you. I want you to remember the promises I made to you in my last Sunday morning message. So these are my covenant, directly from my sermon: "As I have come here and promised to be in ministry with you three days a month for this year, it seems it might be helpful for me to clarify my promises to you: • I promise to speak the truth to you as I see it, and to listen with my whole heart to your experiences. • I promise to be attentive to my spiritual life, that what I share with you may be healthy. • I promise to pay attention to what has heart and meaning and to invest my energy in those things. • I promise to attend to relationships with you that honor the potential in each of us. • I promise to show up at meetings, and events and activities, and to be present at activities that make this congregation a healthy community. • I promise to care for my own well being and health by seeking a balance in my days for friends and family, work, and time for my self - that I may continue to learn, and nurture my spirit. • I promise to share my skills and knowledge and expertise as I see they might be useful, trusting you to decide how you will make use of them. In these vows, I promise to be faithful to you." These are my intentions and my covenant with you. The questions I ask of you are these: • What are your promises to yourself as a part of this church? • What are your promises to other members of the church? • What are your promises to the leaders of the church? I invite you to think about these questions. What are your promises? What is your part in our covenant? I look forward to our time together this year. On my desk, near my computer, I keep these words of inspiration. It helps describe my hopes and feelings about the journey we are beginning. May it deepen your thoughts as it does mine. -- Reverend Sue, October 2008 My eyes already touch the sunlit hills going far ahead of the road I have begun. So we are grasped by what we cannot grasp. It has its inner light, even from a distance, and changes us, even if we don't reach it, into something else, which hardly sensing it, we already are. A gesture waves us on, answering our own wave, but what we feel is the wind in our faces. --- Ranier Maria Rilke