Tag Archives: scott gunn

Forward Today: Clinging to the rock of our salvation

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A large, dark gray slab of rock in the foreground, with the ocean and blue sky in the background. A wave crashes on the slab of rock, spraying white foam in the air.
Photo by Caio Arbulu on Unsplash

Dear friends in Christ,

Nearly every day, reading the news brings disappointment, anger, or worry. Whatever our political persuasion, I think we can agree that we wish our political situation were transformed. It would be easy to be consumed by the worries of the world.

Lately I’ve been profoundly grateful for the Psalter. Reading the psalms does not make the problems of the world vanish, but the Psalter does give me hope. The psalms remind me that my hope is in God, not in earthly things. Psalm 62 begins:

For God alone my soul in silence waits; *
from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation, *
my stronghold, so that I shall not be greatly shaken.

Our salvation comes not from earthly rulers or shiny things, but from God’s eternal love for us and for the whole creation.

My point today is not to minimize the sorrow and injustice of the world. Rather, my hope is that we will be strengthened by our trust in the rock of our salvation so that we may dwell in God’s presence. And from there, perhaps we will be emboldened to confront injustice and to offer consolation to the sorrowful.

Chasing the news cycle alone is a surefire path to despair. I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t stay informed! But when my first focus is on my daily prayer practice, I can take in the news and balance it alongside the Good News of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ.

A good practice is to spend as much time with the Psalter as we spend in the news. Then we can rest in God’s strength, the God who loves us so very much. And our God equips us to be bearers of grace and mercy in the world.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

More from our ministry:

Lament and pray with the Spirituals: Face to the Rising Sun

A simple prayer practice that renews each day: Forward Day by Day

Pray the Psalms in the Daily Office: Hour by Hour

Sign up today: Renewing Discipleship conference, September 24-26

Forward Today: Renewing prayer

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Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Dear friends in Christ,

I’ve just come back from leading a prayer retreat. Forward Movement offered this time to folks as a pilot event as we consider offering spiritual practice retreats. But this wasn’t just a test: the time together with real people doing real prayer led to real results.

Over three days, we spent time in conversation and prayer. We practiced several kinds of prayer, and there was plenty of time for quiet and reflection along with group time. I was inspired hearing people share their prayer practices and the impact of a life of prayer. God really is amazing.

As I reflect on our time, several things stand out. One is that every person’s journey is different, and it’s not uncommon to have a “dry spell” in which one feels less connected to God. Over the course of our lives, our prayer practices will almost surely need to change with us.

Even a seasoned person can learn new ways to pray, and I think most folks at the retreat were stretched in some way or found some new accent in their practice. In other words, we all do well to stay attentive as God calls us into new practices.

If you have not yet developed a daily prayer rhythm, it’s not too late! Forward Movement offers several resources to help you discover or new a daily habit of prayer. Rhonda Lee’s excellent book, Seek And You Will Find, offers a guided introduction to several ways to pray. Our prayer website offers the Daily Office and Forward Day by Day, and that same content is available as a free app. We have podcasts. And plenty more!

Do you feel like you could go deeper in prayer? You probably can. If you’re not sure where to start, talk to a wise spiritual friend or to your priest. Or reach out to us at Forward Movement. Prayer changes the world, one life at a time.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

More from our ministry:

Take prayer with you in your pocket: Prayers for All Occasions

Take the pressure off with Devotions for People Who Don’t Do Devotions

The Prayer Book as training for a spiritual life: Inwardly Digest

Get ready to start the new quarter: Subscribe to Forward Day by Day

Forward Today: Changing church for a changing world

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Evening session in the House of Deputies. Photo: Scott Gunn

Dear friends in Christ,

If you follow news of the Episcopal Church, you will know that leaders from across the church gathered recently in Louisville, KY for our triennial General Convention. Just about 1,000 lay leaders, deacons, priests, and bishops from 16+ nations spent a little over a week deliberating matters important for our common life as Episcopalians.

We also worshiped together and enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting new ones in fellowship time. There was much joy.

For the first time, I was dreading General Convention before I went. I was worried that the bitter and angry discourse of our wider cultures would permeate our conversations. But I am pleased and inspired to report that, though at times we sharply disagreed on important things, all the conversations I heard met the standard to which we hold ourselves, to “respect the dignity of every human being.”

Perhaps this is because we spent plenty of time in prayer. It turns out that when we open ourselves to God’s presence, the Holy Spirit really does lead us. It’s a good lesson to ponder.

The President of the House of Deputies, Julia Ayala Harris, asked me if I would take photos for the House of Deputies, since I was sitting there with my camera anyway. I was glad to play my small part in the process, and you can have a look at some photos of General Convention (mostly the House of Deputies) on my flickr album.

Some of my Forward Movement colleagues came to staff our booth in the exhibit hall, and I know they had some wonderful time with lots of folks. We always learn so much when we listen to one another.

But the thing that excited me the most about this convention is our willingness to embrace our calling in a challenging time. We’ve chosen a new Presiding Bishop who has said he will lead our church to realign its resources for the mission God has given us in this time and place, not for an age that no longer exists. We chose new ways of doing things at several points.

It won’t be easy. But the Gospel is never about making our lives easy. Just when we need him, Jesus always shows up. And if we can have the strength and courage to embrace our calling, we can offer our Lord’s saving message of mercy and grace to the whole world.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

More from our ministry:

A practical guide for church stewardship: Finance Resource Guide

Are your lay leaders tired? Give the gift of Revive

Pray in new ways with our newest podcast: Compline

Simple devotions for hard times: Forward Day by Day

Forward Today: The gift of the Holy Spirit

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A crowd of people in seats at the Louisville Convention Center. The stage at the center is draped with red and yellow banners. An altar stands at the center of the stage, with candles on either side.
Opening Eucharist at General Convention in Louisville, KY. (Photo: Scott Gunn)

Dear friends in Christ,

I write this from Louisville, KY, where I am serving as a deputy to the 81st General Convention of the Episcopal Church. About 1,000 bishops and deputies gather every three years to worship together, enjoy fellowship with one another, and deliberate on matters that affect our common life as a church.

Sometimes it looks messy. Debate gets heated. Mistakes are made. Coffee queues are lengthy. Results may go differently than we hoped.

But, despite all these things, the Holy Spirit shows up.

My hope always is that when any group gathers to make decisions, we pray for guidance and listen attentively for the still, small voice of God. It’s never easy, but sometimes— despite ourselves—it happens.

At our service of Holy Eucharist this morning, the Rev’d Yejide Peters-Pietersen preached a brilliant sermon about how we can trust God to be present. Yejide is Associate Dean and Director of Formation at Berkeley Divinity School, and she’s a former Forward Movement board member. She reminded us all that the world does not depend on our striving but on God’s providence and action.

Please pray for the General Convention and our work. Pray today, especially, for the bishops who are voting to select our next Presiding Bishop as I write this. Pray for the laypeople and clergy in the House of Deputies who will discern whether to confirm the the bishops’ vote.

The Spirit does amazing things when we make room, whether at the local, diocesan, or churchwide levels. And this is true for our daily lives, too. Come, Holy Spirit, come.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

P.S. I’m posting some photos from the floor of the House of Deputies throughout the convention. Have a look if you want to see what our governance looks like.

More from our ministry:

Announcing our newest podcast: Compline: Late Evening Episcopal Prayers

Visit this form by Friday 6/28 to help us choose the words for AdventWord 2024

Pray with us every day: prayer.forwardmovement.org

Forward Today: Celebrating freedom, lamenting captivity

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A spherical candle, brown with white etched patterns on it. The candle's light is the only light in the image,
Photo by Andrew Itaga on Unsplash

Dear friends in Christ,

Every year on June 19, the people of the United States celebrate Juneteenth. As a 2022 General Convention resolution puts it, this day is a way to “lament the historic evil of slavery and celebrate the emancipation of enslaved peoples.”

We can hold two things together in tension. We lament the evils of slavery, past and present. We celebrate freedom. We can celebrate today’s commemoration of the emancipation of enslaved people in Texas on June 19, 1865, and we can mourn the fact that it took so long after the Emancipation Proclamation for these people to receive their freedom.

Sadly, slavery of various forms continues in our world, today, both far and near. I hope that we Christians—who follow the liberating Lord Jesus—can work to end the enslavement of people. But today, we celebrate freedom. It’s a core message of the Gospel. In Jesus Christ, we are all set free. We are freed from our captivity to sin and death. And, God willing, I pray all people are freed from any other captivity.

On this Juneteenth, I encourage us all to read and study Exodus 14, the story of the Crossing of the Red Sea. This chapter, and the ones just before it, center God’s desire to free his people. May we work so that all are freed. May we lament enslavement past and present. May we celebrate freedom.

A blessed Juneteenth to you.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

P.S. At the end of next week, Forward Movement will be at General Convention. If you’re there, come visit us in the exhibit hall.

More from our ministry:

Pray with us every day: prayer.forwardmovement.org

Lament and celebrate with the Spirituals: Face to the Rising Sun

Follow the story of God’s liberating love: The Path

Bridge the gap between knowing and living the Bible:
The Social Justice Bible Challenge

Forward Today: Inspired and empowered

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Dear friends in Christ,

I’ve just finished attending a meeting of Forward Movement’s board of directors. It’s a great team of people, leaders who are committed both to their own discipleship and to reinvigorating the life of the church.

Everyone always reports they are refreshed and renewed as we wrap up our meetings. It’s been that way consistently for the whole time I’ve been serving at Forward Movement. Why? Because we anchor our meetings in prayer, scripture study, relational connections, and a sharp focus on our organizational mission. In other words, we keep the main thing the main thing.

We try really hard to practice what we preach at Forward Movement, both with our staff and our board. We’re not perfect, but when we manage to get it right, it keeps us… moving forward.

At this moment in the life of the church, we are seeing a smaller but potentially stronger church. Our hope is to go even deeper as disciples so that we can all be empowered to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the world. We are working hard to determine what the church most needs so that we can offer the resources and support that will help our church live out the Great Commission. If you have suggestions for the work of Forward Movement, please let me know!

We met at St. Philip’s in the Hills in Tucson, AZ. They are thriving—vibrant with new members, thriving ministries, deepening formation, and expanding service to those in need. They keep the main thing the main thing. That is, they are all in on Jesus.

This board meeting we just finished was an especially rich one, because we stayed focused. It really made a difference. I see what happens when I get distracted, and you might have noticed the same thing in your life.

I hope you’ll receive my happy report not as bragging, but as letting Christ’s light shine before others. We are not so amazing, but God is totally amazing. If we can all remember that, our whole church will be stronger and our Gospel witness will be more credible.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

More from our ministry:

Keep the main thing the main thing with research-based tips: Signs of Life

A daily chance to get back to basics: Subscribe to Forward Day by Day

A spiritual renewal program for lay leaders: Revive

Forward Today: Can we understand the Trinity? Does it matter?

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Andrei Rublev, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Dear friends in Christ: While Scott is traveling this week, please enjoy this throwback post he wrote for Trinity Sunday in 2021.

I love Trinity Sunday, but I often despair at going to church on this glorious feast day. You might ask, what’s not to love? We get to sing some fantastic hymns! We get one last dose of white vestments before the long, green season coming along. We get to offer our praise of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And therein lies the rub. Too many preachers decide this is the day to explain the mystery of the Holy Trinity in eight minutes or less. It usually doesn’t go well, especially if the preacher decides to use metaphors for the Holy Trinity. This hilarious video explains the problem nicely.

Today is a day to bask in the glory of God. To use this day to delve into theological teaching would be a bit like going to your wedding and then offering a scientific explanation of what might be happening in our brains when we experience love. You see? It’s not a bad activity, but it’s the wrong activity for a moment that should be a celebration.

Can we understand the Holy Trinity? At a basic level, yes. The creeds do a pretty good job of summarizing things. Basic theological teaching, or a study of scripture, can unpack how God is revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It’s not the easiest thing in the world, but it’s also not the most complicated. I mean, plenty of people enjoy watching a good cricket match without understanding all the rules! Or, to use a scriptural example, we don’t have to understand where the wind comes from to know that we need to pay attention to the weather forecast (John 3).

On Trinity Sunday, I hope we can simply enjoy the glory and majesty of God. Rather than get out our flowcharts, we do well to belt out the hymns.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty,
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

More from our ministry:

Explore Episcopal beliefs and practices: Walk in Love

Making it easy to study scripture each day: The Bible Challenge series

Start your day with praise to God: A Morning at the Office podcast

Come pray with us on retreat this July in Cincinnati. Register today!

Forward Today: It starts with showing up

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Duccio di Buoninsegna, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Dear friends in Christ,

This Sunday, we celebrate the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after Easter Day, completing our celebration of Eastertide. The events of this most astounding day are told for us in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.

Here’s the beginning of the account: “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:1-2).

Why were the disciples gathered in the first place? They were keeping the feast of Pentecost, exactly fifty days after Passover. Jews today still keep this feast fifty days after Passover, and it’s called Shavuot. The point is that the disciples of Jesus were doing what people of faith do: keeping a cycle of fasts and feasts.

There’s no particular reason to think that the disciples knew that the Holy Spirit would descend on the church on this particular day. Jesus had promised the arrival of the Spirit, but he wasn’t specific about the timeline. So when that amazing Day of Pentecost dawned, the disciples—perhaps still reeling from the sorrow and awe of Holy Week seven weeks before—had to make a choice. They chose to show up, to keep the feast.

In other words, they didn’t leave their homes because they were expecting fireworks, but rather for the “routine” work of keeping their faith. But God blessed them on this occasion with dazzling fireworks of sorts, tongues of fire in this case.

Amidst all the miraculous and strange events of that Day of Pentecost, one lesson I take away is that sometimes our work begins with the simple and steadfast task of showing up. When Sunday morning rolls around, it’s not helpful for me to say to myself, “Do I think I will enjoy church and sense God’s presence?” Rather, I do well to say, “This morning I will show up. Perhaps God will bless me with his presence there.”

If those first disciples had decided not to show up, they might have missed the fireworks, missing out on the manifestation of God’s presence. Thanks be to God, they showed up.

We Christians have a cycle of feasts and fasts. We have appointed work in the world. We have the need for times of prayer and study. Whether it’s traveling to a place or making time on our calendars, the first job is showing up.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

More from our ministry:

Tomorrow: Hear Scott’s hopes for the church’s future in this VTS webinar

Show up for prayer wherever you are with our mobile app and podcasts

Action steps for spiritual growth in the church: Signs of Life

Forward Today: Jesus loves you, this I know

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The central dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem. (Scott Gunn)

Dear friends in Christ,

Tomorrow the church celebrates one of our most important feasts, Ascension Day. We commemorate Jesus’ ascension into heaven to sit at his Father’s right hand. The story is told in Luke 24:50-53 and Acts 1:6-11.

This feast day is not just about Jesus doing another supernatural thing that defies our understanding of reality, the way he also walked out of a tomb after having been killed. While it is about that, there is a deeper meaning that we do well to ponder.

Our celebration of Ascension Day completes our celebration of the fullness of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ in recalling and giving thanks for his suffering, death, resurrection, and yes, ascension. His glorification and presence at his Father’s right hand shows us the triumph of God’s grace and mercy over the powers of evil, sin, and death.

In the Ascension, we also see that Jesus has entrusted and commissioned his followers to carry on his reconciling ministry. And not wanting to leave us alone, Jesus promised the presence of the Holy Spirit. That’s a lot of amazing news to pack into one celebration!

It’s all because Jesus loves us. Not past tense. Jesus is not merely a moral teacher who showed us how to live. He is those things, but he is also the means of grace and the hope of glory.

Right now, when you need him, you can call on Jesus. He is ready to offer us his grace, mercy, and healing when we need it. He is ready to intercede for us with his Father. He knows our struggles and our joys. He is alive, ruling from heaven.

So don’t be distracted by the mechanics of Ascension Day. Focus instead on how this event is part of God’s saving love for us and for all people.

I hope you are able to find your way to a church this evening for Ascension Eve or tomorrow for Ascension Day. We have a lot for which to offer our thanks and praise.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

More from our ministry:

Follow the story of redemption from start to finish: The Path

Prayer and inspiration that fit in your pocket: Forward Day by Day

Devotions that focus on each Person of the Trinity: A Generous Beckoning

Next week: Hear Scott’s hopes for the church’s future in this VTS webinar

Forward Today: Fearless faith

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Rooted and Growing Evangelism workshop at the Fearless Faith Revival. (Photo: The Episcopal Diocese of Northern California on Facebook)

Dear friends in Christ,

Last weekend, I visited the Diocese of Northern California to speak about evangelism at their revival, Fearless Faith. The name of the revival got me thinking.

Fearless faith could suggest that we practice our faith without fear. It’s tempting to find ourselves limiting how we practice our faith, as individuals or congregations, out of fear. We might worry about money, or what people will think of us, or whether some new ministry will succeed or fail.

What if we practiced our faith boldly? There’s no reason not to invite people to our churches. There’s often more money available than we think. Even if some new ministry doesn’t take off, we will learn something—so there’s rarely a total failure. Fearless faith is closer to the adventure that the Gospels suggest when we choose to follow Jesus.

But there’s another way to read that title, Fearless Faith. As we just heard last Sunday in the epistle, perfect love casts out fear. Our culture is bombarded by messages peddling fear. “Be afraid of those people.” “Be afraid of that place.” “Be afraid that you might not have enough money.” “Be afraid that your appearance is not sufficiently beautiful.” It’s nonsense, and it’s antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In faith, we will realize we don’t need to be afraid of anyone or any place. We will realize there is enough. We will realize that we don’t need to “look more beautiful” because we are all made in the image and likeness of God, and nothing could be more beautiful than that!

So if we fill our hearts in faith with the love of Jesus Christ, we will immunize ourselves against the bombardment of fear.

I am always working on practicing and believing a fearless faith. I hope you are, too. Be not afraid!

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

More from our ministry:

Fearless evangelism in your congregation: Signs of Life

Practical guidance for ministry: Vestry Resource Guide

Revive your faith with daily prayer: Forward Day by Day

Read through the Gospels one passage at a time: The Bible Challenge series