I joined the Fellows program to get clarity on my future vocation as I move into my mid-60s. I came to faith in 1975 after personal loss, a search for meaning, and a journey that took me to some 50 different houses of worship over 50 weeks. My life changed and my faith deepened.
The Coracle Fellowship was a refresh and brought truth, relationships, and vocation to the surface for me. Halfway through the program, I wrote the following:
I feel challenged and optimistic. There is much work to be done by the church, and to quote John the Baptist, “the kingdom of God is at hand.” The call is to repent, lament, be transformed, work for peace, strive for justice, serve the poor, love each other, resist evil. The call is prophetic. We are part of it, in community. And if the Lord builds the house, we don’t labor in vain.
By June 2020, I had been helping lead a racial reconciliation group of 8 white Christians in a predominantly white church for some 9 months. This call to reconciliation among people grew. Our racial reconciliation group grew as well in a grassroots manner to 25 diverse participants weekly. Then we formed a second group with almost 30 new members, all from different churches and walks of life. In short, Kingdom Action, the theme of Coracle, surfaced and helped renew the call to me for peacemaking and reconciliation. This culminated in my Capstone project for the Fellowship Program — a Racial Reconciliation Seminar, “Gathering in Humility to Listen, Learn, and Serve” which featured 18 speakers and included close to 150 participants from 51 churches across the country in January of this year. I am grateful for all that were involved in the Seminar and how the Fellowship Program experience encouraged me in this work.
Will Rowe