Glacial Transformation

A Beginning

Although glaciers may be disappearing, we find their fingerprints everywhere on the planet. They have shaped the terrain of continents, slowly and profoundly. Indeed, “glacial” has become a synonym for an extremely slow progression. It was over a decade ago that the adjective ‘glacial’ came to me as I struggled to describe the process of transformation in the life of a disciple of Jesus, or the life of disciples of Jesus, also known as the Church.

In 2014, our church delegation presented a workshop at our diocesan convention titled “Glacial Transformation.” There was a subtitle referring to our use of a common spiritual discipline in our congregation. We called it “The Trinity Way of Life.” We weren’t expecting a huge crowd, but before our presentation began, the room was standing room only, with people gathering by the doorways to listen in.

While all members of our delegation participated in our presentation, one of my key points was to emphasize that what we were doing was not a quick path to numerical growth, community impact, or increased giving. It is a lengthy and gradual process that will take significantly longer than the average tenure of a pastor in our denomination. Four years after that presentation, I retired and moved about 90 miles away. The denominational desire for retired clergy is similar to the opening scene in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Vernon Dursley has a business guest coming for dinner and tells Harry to go up to his room and pretend he doesn’t exist.

Even without my less-than-stellar leadership, the parish has survived various transitions, especially the pandemic closure that hit people hard. Is the glacial transformation still going on? Don’t ask me. I’m 90 miles away and pretending I don’t exist.

Nonetheless, Glacial Transformation never leaves my thoughts. My forty years of parish ministry has convinced me that we grossly underestimate the nature of conversion and the challenges we face in becoming apprentices of Jesus in community (i.e., Church).

Next up on this topic is “In defense of Simon Magus,” a story of barely inaugurated conversion.