Exodus and Reflective Questions 03
Author: Kathryn Turner

Exodus – A People Moving Forward Together in Hope

Challenges
along the Way

Opening Responses
Reader We gather in the name of the Father:
All Who lays before his People a journey –
that will challenge and stretch them
but will help them to grow into the people he longs for them to be.
Reader We gather in the name of the Son:
All Who led his early disciples on a journey of discovery –
and who continues to call disciples
to continue the quest of building the Kingdom of God.
Reader We gather in the name of the Holy Spirit:
All Who works in the minds and hearts of men and women –
gifting them with skills and strength
to overcome the challenges before them
and the love to do all for the glory of God.
Remembering the Journey
We will hear a couple of extracts from the Book of Exodus which tell us about some of the challenges faced by the Israelites on the Journey. (Note: you may not use all of them!)
Thoughts for Reflection
How much sympathy do you have for the Israelites?
What do you think about how God responded?
After the second extract:
How does the hankering back to the good times reflect how people might feel – perhaps quite legitimately – in your community?
After the third extract
This is clearly a “false god” taking the place of the one, true God. But when are we also tempted to see things – even holy things – as more important than God?
After the fourth extract
A time for honesty! How often do you think your parish priest – deacon – Sister – pastoral council and finance committee feel like Moses?
Have you ever felt like it? (Not necessarily in a church setting but that is our focus today).
Exploring the Way
The questions for reflection today come from three sections – Finance and Facilities (how we use the resources given to us) and Geographical Distance.
Looking at our community’s data.
Information relevant to our reflective questions is presented to help our discussions.
Reflective Questions (more overleaf)
How do you feel about the average weekly offertory donation in your community? Will this be adequate to enable your community to flourish in 2020?
If you are a finance-rich community, how do you feel about sharing some of your resources with very poor parts of the diocese?
What sort of use can your community foresee for unused or underused facilities in the future?
How can the community develop the capacity to look after them?
How does your community feel bout the possibility that the only way to ensure flourishing in the future is to become part of a new parish community?
Are there ways in which your community can serve and support neighbouring communities?
Closing Prayer The Forward Together in Hope prayer

Glory be to the Father -
in whom we live and move
and have our being.
Glory be to the Son -
Whose name we bear
and who calls each of us
to be his disciples;
to build his Kingdom
and to go out into the world
and bear its fruit.
Glory be to the Holy Spirit -
pouring out grace and guidance,
forming us and renewing us.
Inspire us all
In the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle
to live the Gospel,
to be open to change
and to move forward together in hope...