Wednesday, August 14, 2024
For those of you who, like me, enjoy golf, sometimes twilight golf is the best. For the uninitiated, twilight golf usually starts after 4 pm on a given day. People who enjoy twilight golf are usually people who have already put in a hard day’s work and are just looking for some fun, great exercise and good comradery. I was fortunate yesterday to join in with three men all of whom were a few years younger than me. They were good friends who had golfed together for a lot of years and for some reason their 4th could not make it so I was joined with them.
Lots of times I dread the question, ‘what do you do for a living?’ because on the golf course when I say I am a minister it usually creates some embarrassment ('oh we better watch our language now') and immediately a barrier is set up. Not yesterday. Here were three men quite confident in themselves, loved themselves and couldn’t care less whether I was a minister or whether I was from Mars. They just enjoyed the usual golf banter – giving each other a hard time, celebrating particularly good golf shots, laughing off the bad shots and just having fun.
One was a long time member of Knox Waterloo, another was an insurance executive and the third was a business consultant who specialized in working with not-for-profits. The late afternoon, early evening became an opportunity not only to have some fun, but also to network – particularly with Glenn who worked with not-for-profits. We had some great conversations and I am following up with Glen for coffee later this week.
Here are some of the things I learned:
What we are doing here at St. Andrew’s with respect to our Roy Street Project in trying to create housing, service and programs for adults with differing abilities all in one place is something desperately needed here in this area and frankly across Canada.
The need to work together with partners is crucial – in this day and age with rising costs and complex situations no one can do projects like these alone.
There are many people in the larger community looking to support projects like these – there is a high level of both compassion and deep care to meet the needs of those within our populace who are more vulnerable.
Possibilities are endless – we just need to be willing to talk to others, let people know what we are trying to do.
Churches that try to meet the needs within the community instead of working their own agendas are the churches people in the community are still willing to work with even if they no longer go to church.
Our initiatives to use our building to create partnerships that enhance our ministry and outreach into the community are sound – there is need for space to be utilized effectively by not-for-profit organizations.
As Glen and I talked, I mentioned that the people of St. Andrew’s were good people, very good people, but that it was hard for them to let go of their church building and to share it with people in the community. His response was telling. He said, ‘yes, of course it is hard. People often have invested their time, their gifts, their abilities, sometimes through several generations into their church and into their church building and so it is only natural for it to be hard.’ But he continued, ‘congregations with leaders willing to reach out and build those partnerships are the kind of congregations that are needed.’
Glen is not a church person. But he is a kind, compassionate human being whose life work has resulted in him utilizing his skill set to work with organizations like Marillac Place – one of our potential partners.
Yesterday was a reminder that in the midst of all the headlines about horrible things happening in the world, and the dreadful things people do to each other, there are still lots and lots of beautiful, wonderful, caring people who simply want to help create a better world. Some of those people call themselves church people. Some don’t. But together we can, in the grace and love that abounds, do beautiful things.
Take good care this week all of you. You are wonderful, beautiful people.
Rev. Marty Molengraaf (he, him)
Minister, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church