\u201cIn bringing up children we help situate them in their own story by telling the stories of the family they belong to, narrating the lives of the parents, grandparents, and their early years, as well as the stories of the community in which they are living. At its best this understanding of a past is a helpful way of encouraging growth and development into the future; it expresses that life is a changing unfolding story in which we all play our part. It teaches the importance of contextualizing life; who we are is shaped by where we come from and who we come from, not in a way that necessarily binds us but in a way that affects us.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n In her book What Clergy Do: Especially When it Looks Like Nothing<\/em>, Emma Percy makes significant parallels between parish ministry and motherhood, citing that neither role can be formulaic, but shared wisdom and shared language can be of some help.[2]<\/a> Percy comes from Parish ministry, so she speaks with rich authenticity and candor about the role of being a parish priest. Percy, and her husband Martyn, now work in higher education where she is the Welfare Dean and Chaplain for Trinity College at the University of Oxford.[3]<\/a> Throughout the eight chapters in the book, Percy draws on both her role as a mother, as well as a priest, encouraging both to think about themselves in relation to three main areas: as a labourer, sustaining life and making things[4]<\/a>; as a practice shaped by particular goals and demands[5]<\/a>, and as an \u201cordinary good enough mother\u201d[6]<\/a> or one who is consistent in meeting the needs of the Church and the child.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I found her take on both mothering and parish ministry quite refreshing, especially in light of my own work in both arenas. This week in particular, I felt called to the work of the parish but moreso the unique nature of the work of parenting. In this book, I felt compelled to help myself and my sons remember the good work of vocational ministry that is contextual to each situation and each family. My sons, while they are Rouggly\u2019s, are also Denning\u2019s, and it is important for them to understand both sides to themselves. In the same way, the Church is God\u2019s bride, but it\u2019s situated in a particular context and needs to understand both God and the community. When it comes down to it, it\u2019s the power of community that aids both. The Church is there for the betterment of the community, but it is made up of a broken group of people who are strung together to form a network of community. The family is a more insular community, but is part of a large generational lineage that came before and will come after.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wandering the cemetery this week, holding hands with my son, I wondered if he would remember these names, these headstones, these graves. Would he remember my papa, his great-papa? Would he remember the Denning\u2019s who came before him? Would he know that he is from a lineage of loving and dedicated men and women on both sides of his family? Would he understand that while he is born and raised a Californian, he has one foot in Michigan and one foot in Missouri where his dad’s family is from? Will he see that he has strong farmers\u2019 hands and a heart in the shape of a tractor? While I can\u2019t say for certain he will know those things, I will mother him in a way that reminds him of who he is. I will mother him in way that situates him in the context of a familial community and a church community that loves him and will do anything for him. And any time he forgets, a good, long walk around the Moscow Plains cemetery ought to do the trick.<\/p>\n ———————————————–<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Emma Percy, What Clergy Do: Especially When it Looks Like <\/em>Nothing (SPCK Publishing: London, UK, 2014), 53.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Ibid., 3.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a>\u201cEmma Percy: Welfare Dean and Chaplain,\u201d Profiles, Trinity College of University of Oxford, accessed May 30, 2019, https:\/\/www.trinity.ox.ac.uk\/people\/profiles\/emma-percy-2\/<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Emma Percy, What Clergy Do: Especially When it Looks Like <\/em>Nothing (SPCK Publishing: London, UK, 2014), 24.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG_3397-e1559275387552-225x300.jpg\")
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