Bonfire

Keep this fire burning brightly

One of the common expectations of young people who are planning to get married is that their love will continue to abound, that the thrill of falling in love will be enough to sustain their marriage. And so they must be counseled that a healthy marriage needs constant tending. It requires ongoing effort to deal with expectations and hurt feelings, and making sure that their hopes and dreams are shared equally. The same is true for our Bonfire partnership.

We have worked side by side in planning worship, youth mission trips, the Farmer’s Market, Confirmation gatherings, Men’s fellowship, Seniors ministry and now parish nursing. It has required effort and coordination but it also has been joyful work, in part, because it was something new. But as we move forward we will need to put important work into keeping our relationships healthy.

One of the challenges for us is that we are still three individual congregations, each with unique traditions and expectations. We have a lot going on, our calendars are all full–which is great! But as much as we want to support each other and invite each other to share our lives together, it would be impossible for us to participate in everything that all three congregations are doing. That would be neither realistic nor healthy.

One of the most impressive things we have done has been parish nursing. We carefully developed a Joint Health Committee with representatives from each congregation and together they proposed and helped establish a parish nurse program that serves all three congregations equally. That is primary benefit of Bonfire–that working together side by side, we can co-create new ministry and enhance existing ministry. We will be most successful in our partnership when we share together equally in planning. May the Spirit of Christ help us keep this fire burning bright.

Pastor Mark Vinge
House of Hope

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