Burst Forth

God has made laughter, laughter for me,” we sang together at the opening worship service of the 2014 National Presbyterian Women’s Gathering. The words come from the Old Testament matriarch Sarai upon being surprised with the joyful news that, 90 years old as she was, she would give birth to a son. “God has made laughter, laughter for me. Is anything impossible with God?” Worship leader, Rev. John Bell introduced the song by joking: “If you see a 90 – year – old woman laughing, the chances are, she’s pregnant.”

Pregnant, or full of life.

Our lively group of more than 600 women assembled in a ballroom of the Sheraton Parkway Hotel in Richmond Hill, Ont., from May 16 – 19. Women came from across Canada, including a group from Winnipeg Inner City Missions. Visitors from the worldwide ministries of the Presbyterian Church in Canada flew in from their homes in Taiwan, Pakistan, Hungary, India, Malawi, Nigeria, Kenya, Japan, Korea, Scotland and the United States—although the Canadian government denied the travel visas requested by some.

For each woman, the event was extraordinary—out of the ordinary—a time of leaving our various small corners to experience the vast, worldwide family of God. Packing clothes into my suitcase for the conference brought to mind packing my summer camp duffel bag as a girl, wondering what I might see, hear and feel, anticipating a time away from home to encounter God and Christian community in fresh ways.

At a recent visioning event at Camp Kintail, consultant Rev. Garrie Stevens commented that for many children, going to camp can be compared to a Jewish person’s pilgrimage to Jerusalem. All year long, the local community shares its faith life in the synagogue, much as a congregation shares a faith life together in the local church. At Passover, a wider congregation ascends to Jerusalem and assembles to praise God together, a peak experience like the 2014 Women’s Gathering and the inaugural 2011 event.

One of the four preachers who spoke on the “Burst Forth” theme taken from Isaiah 35:1 – 10, Rev. Kristine O’Brien spoke of the pilgrimage she had taken on St. Cuthbert’s Way in Scotland. Amidst the physical and emotional challenges she faced, in a moment of vulnerability, she felt God’s presence assuring her: “You are my beloved creation, and I am right here.”

This life – giving reassurance extended to all of us. O’Brien commented that we are passionate about the church, and we are worried about the church. The weekend offered respite from those worries, as much as it offered rest from our daily work, from our household chores, and from our Sunday responsibilities. The women who attended the conference, including the six named “Women of Faith” at the Sunday award banquet, are women who take on many tasks. These are women like award recipient Doreen McDougall, who was often the first to unlock the church door on Sunday morning, and the last to lock it later that day.

For four days, we were free to rest from making church happen and allowed simply to be God’s church. To sing Hallelujah in effortless harmony led by Rev. John Bell. To search out the good news found in the Old Testament with Rev. Dr. Patricia Dutcher – Walls. To pray in watercolours at Mary Jane Bisset’s quiet spirituality centre. To hear children from Toronto’s notorious Jane and Finch neighbourhood play “In Christ Alone” on violins at the Reaching Up concert. To dance forward an offering of more than $16,000 for Presbyterian World Service & Development’s work in Syria to the rhythm of a Ghanaian worship band.

“There’s something bubbly here,” Anita Mack of Saint – Lambert, Que., commented, saying that the event offered a feeling of relief, that all the weight of the world is not on our shoulders, that we are not alone in our efforts.

There was relief, and there was challenge. The first keynote speaker, War Child Canada’s founder Dr. Samantha Nutt, called us to solidarity and global sisterhood. Nutt shared her indignation about the culture of impunity she has observed on the front lines of today’s battlegrounds, such as the mining regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She challenged us to examine the ways we are complicit in the violence. Our pension plans may be invested in arms manufacturers, and our mobile phones may be made with minerals gleaned from conflict zones. “Our silence is our surrender,” she declared, urging us to respond effectively by learning about the issues and making long – term financial commitments to effective aid organizations, so that important work like the education of girls and women can continue for a generation and beyond.

Newly informed about our own complicity in the horrors of war, it was tempting to despair. Nutt shared some of her own struggles to continue in her often dangerous front line work. Even so, we found hope. Rev. John Bell reminded us, “the church is not silent. The church sings in the face of oppression.” Together we sang Mungu ne mwema, a song from the Democratic Republic of the Congo which translates, “Know that God is good.” God’s goodness bursts forth even in situations we might call irredeemable.

The second keynote speaker, Kim Phuc, spoke of the redemptive power of God. “The girl in the photograph,” badly burned by napalm dropped on her village in Vietnam in 1972, she described her journey of healing and forgiveness. Phuc held up a glass cup full of coffee, telling us that her heart was at one time as bitter and dark toward those who harmed her. “I had to change my heart,” she said, “or die from hatred.” Her testimony of God at work—she has befriended the man who said he was responsible for the bomb—taught us that anything truly is possible with God, and that God’s grace is for all, even for perpetrators of violence. Clutching a clean glass of drinking water, Phuc shared that God has filled her cup with peace, joy and love. With tears in many eyes, we stood and thanked her for her message of hope.

Woman of Faith award recipient Dr. Pauline Brown said: “One person is nobody, but together we are terrific.” Together, we were terrific. Inspired by what we had seen and heard, nourished by a closing communion service, we went on our way. We had sung together: “We will go rejoicing till the kingdom has come.” For four days, we had tasted the worldwide kingdom of God, and this song was on our hearts as we returned home, wondering where God’s redeeming work would burst forth in our lives, our churches, and the Presbyterian Church in Canada.