May 6thBridgebuilding With a Lower Case B
A few final thoughts about the Sacred Work of Bridgebuilding
My last day in my official role as Bridgebuilding Facilitator for MCA is April 30th. I want to begin by thanking all of you for the opportunity you gave me to serve in this role for the past 4+ years. MCA’s investment in this work for the past decade + not only nurtured our MCA communities, but spilled into the wider church, through interest by Canadian Mennonite and Anabaptist World publications, and by MC Canada, through workshops and panel discussions at our last two Mennonite Church Canada Gatherings. The mustard seed planted back in 2010 has nurtured far beyond our Alberta borders, and for that I praise God!
The way I see it, Bridgebuilding is the joyful work of co-creating an environment – be it interfaith, ecumenical, or within our own church community- where the invitation to participate in a New Humanity of kinship unified through the lens of our One God incarnated in Christ, can live and grow. This work cannot happen without the willingness to let go of control in order to open the way for co-creating a new way with others on this journey – always with the presence of the Holy Spirit. For the past several years, you have tasked me, as Bridgebuilder, to play the role (imperfectly, for sure) and to reflect on these experiences of stretching myself, stories that were meant to inspire and give courage to others. And for the last year, you have invited me into your congregations to explore together how we can live into this calling as church communities. 
I have said “yes” so many times on our behalf – to organizing Interfaith dialogues, participating in Interfaith panels, in intercultural panels, in ecumenical spaces, organizing Remembrance Day Peace gatherings, organizing visits to Powwows, round dances, pipe ceremonies, and soup-and-bannock fellowship. I have organized and co-facilitated book studies that stretch our theological and relational imaginations and preached in your midst. Some from MCA have joined me on the ground and have shared their reflections for the good of us all! I will never stop doing the work of bridgebuilding! But it will move from Bridgebuilding Facilitator with capital letters to bridgebuilding in lower case.
As this work will now stop growing through one person, it is time to pass the torch! I invite us to consider: that the call to following Jesus in his Bridgebuilding footsetps is – must be -- part of our theology, lived out in our common life together. Bridgebuilding is not just “a good idea.” Living into this call is the stuff of our living stories – our witness to the sacred work of complete discipleship. All of us have different capacities of time and energy to do this work, but I propose that unless we do this work, and celebrate it together through sharing of stories, we stop growing in our life journey in Christ.
I would like to leave you with one last Bridgebuilding Facilitator story: In March of this year, Joanne Moyer invited me to join her class at King’s University to share about my experiences and insights into interfaith work. I invited Salwa, from Al Rashid mosque to join me. At some point, I shared how Youcef, a Moroccan Muslim I met at an Iftar we hosted during Ramadan this year, asked me how I know so much about Islam. I stumbled upon an answer about learning about the 5 pillars of Islam and about learning through the dialogues I have been part of for many years. Salwa, who has been part of this dialogue journey with us since the beginning, offered this wise answer: “You know about Islam because you know Muslims!!!!!!!!” And, vice versa, Salwa knows about the Mennonite Christian faith because she knows Mennonites. This is such a beautiful reminder that real knowledge about each other and our lived faith comes from relationships, not only Wikipedia or books. This is a little story, but these little stories all add up to joyful witness to our living God. Hallelujah!
I pray that all of us can – in our own way -- find the courage to open our eyes, ears, and hearts to show up and see God at work in new contexts that stretch us and keep us tethered to our living God! And may we boldly share these stories as testimonials to our ever-deepening faith, as witness to the source of our hope.
Amen.
And Tim's response...
A Muslim-Christian Dialogue on the Way to the Airport
“I’m a Muslim,” said the taxi driver as I rode to the airport. I had just mentioned I was on my way to church meetings in Ontario. What followed was a fascinating “dialogue” about our different faith perspectives. We recognized the high importance of Jesus, while noting our differing understandings. Finally, my taxi driver said, “When it comes right down to it, it’s how you treat people. That’s how you live out your faith.” By the time he dropped me off on the departures level, we had engaged in a wide-ranging conversation about shared concerns: peace in the world; raising kids in a cell phone age; bridging divisions in our multicultural society; the list went on.
As the MCA Bridge Building staff position comes to an end, I’m thankful for the way that these efforts of dialogue and understanding prepared me for that taxi conversation. I realized how connections like these grew out of the understanding, curiosity, and love for neighbors nurtured through many such connections that Bridge Building has provided. I so much appreciate the work that began with Donna Entz and continued through Suzanne Gross – work that is truly reflective of God’s vision in Revelation 7 of a multitude ‘from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages’ coming together.