2005 Consultation: New Haven

A Milestone Event

The first weekend after Easter turned out to be a special time for the 118 people who registered for the 2005 annual consultation of the Coalition for Ministry in Daily Life.

Held the first three days of April at Yale Divinity School in New Haven, CT, this event was by far the best attended of all CMDL’s previous yearly gatherings. The large attendance gave people there an unusual opportunity for contact with a wide assortment of Christians sharing the same commitments and passions.

For many participants those days also brought compelling new horizons regarding God’s involvement in our ordinary places of work, together with fresh perspectives on how we can more faithfully live the gospel message in a world where Christ’s resurrection has occurred.

The words of one person - “I had a wonderful experience” – were echoed in many different ways by the several dozen participants who provided post-consultation written evaluations. And they were given additional texture and weight by the eighteen people who shared a time of debriefing, Bible study, and planning at the two-day working retreat following the consultation.

The success of the event resulted from a convergence of factors. It was partly a matter of the speakers’ provocative messages regarding the consultation theme – Called to Purposive Life and Work: New Perspectives on Vocation and Occupation. Coming from different places in the Christian tradition and in their life situations, they offered an unusual blend of theological vision and possibilities for practical implementation. “Somehow theology met up and interacted with frontline work,” said another person.

Consultation participants also relished the new contacts established and friendships made with people coming from a wide range of Christian denominations (most of them identifying themselves as Evangelicals, mainline Protestants or Roman Catholics). This networking process was enhanced by participants’ assignment to breakout groups that met twice and were arranged according to a shared occupational focus.

The setting for the event also contributed to its success. The recently renovated campus of Yale Divinity School provided an attractive space brimming with rich tradition, and the hosting Yale Center for Faith & Culture gave participants an impressive glimpse of the students and faculty who place YDS today in the front ranks of theological education.

Not to be overlooked is the fact that running through all the interactions and happenings (even the glitches and limitations) was a common spirit. Said another participant: “It was refreshing for me to experience a conference where the people are believers and acted as such…I have been to many other conferences, similar in focus, and was not treated with such love and kindness.”

Other consultation highlights included:

-Presentation of the Forum for Faith in the Workplace’s fifth Carolyn Dickerson Minus Award to Dick Broholm, longtime pioneer in the faith-at-work movement and current advisory board chair of Luther Seminary’s Centered Life initiative

-Reminders of the international character of this movement by the presence of seven participants from Canada and several others from beyond North America

-Election to the CMDL board of Judy Valente, Chris Scott, Wayne Schwab, and John Terrill, along with grateful affirmation of outgoing board members Pete Hammond, Sally Simmel and David Miller

-Expressions of gratitude to consultation planners John Lewis, David Miller, Heather Templeton, Dave Williamson, Vaile Scott, Tillie Chase, Sally Simmel and Paul Minus, as well as to co-sponsoring organizations Luther Seminary Center for Lifelong Learning, Yale Center for Faith & Culture, Center for Faith in the WorkPlace, Fuller Theological Seminary, and National Center for the Laity

-Meetings of several faculty leaders from Yale Divinity School, Luther Seminary and Fuller Theological Seminary regarding possibilities for future collaboration in this field

-Decision by the CMDL board to hold the next annual consultation at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA, the weekend of April 21-23, 2006 (the first weekend after Easter), and to focus deliberations regarding the vocation/work theme on “best practices” in workplaces and congregations/parishes.

So fruitful was the New Haven ’05 consultation that this entire issue of LayNet is devoted to telling the story. Future issues will continue to explore the implications of this remarkable gathering.

Surely, God was in this place…Thanks be to God!

(Excerpted from the Spring 2005 issue of LayNet)