Memories of Ministry

Tomorrow is the 30th Anniversary of the day when I was ordained--Pentecost, May 30, 1982.  Seems like a long time ago now.  The time has gone so swiftly.  Yet, the memory is clear and powerful.  I remember the thunderstorms and the deep waters that made getting to the church difficult. I hear the echoes of a sermon that the Rev. Dr. Lionel Whiston, Jr. preached that day.  I remember big promises and the laying on of hands--exceedingly heavy hands.  I remember the presentation of a robe and stoles, bibles and a home communion set.  I still hear the offertory as it is sung and the postlude, "For All the Saints".  Yes, I do remember.

And, I remember the people and places to which God has taken me over these thirty years.  It has been a remarkable adventure of sorrow and joy, exile and homecoming, death and resurrection.  I remember the saints (and the sinners) who welcomed me and argued with me, who taught me to serve and to love with humility and hope.  I remember flood waters and baptisms.  I remember confirmation classes.  I remember goose-bump moments, Holy Communion, and the stirrings of the Spirit.  I remember sermons, some of which I wish I might not have preached.   I remember weddings each with its own unpredictable, memorable moment--the hope, the promise, the commitment to a future together.  I remember the long, solemn processions, preceeding the dead--the committals.  I remember Easter morning.  I do remember!


A favorite text begins to sing within my spirit.  There is hope that the God who called me to this journey also remembers and will see me through.  Listen!

For you shall go out in joy,

     and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song,
     and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
     instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the LORD for a memorial,
     for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

                   --Isaiah 55:12f. (NRSV)

It is enough. 
   It is enough. 
      Yes, it is more than enough.

It is our gift.
   It is our hope.
      Indeed, it is so!

Thanks be to God!

Sabbatical Plans

In six weeks, I will be on sabbatical (July 1 - September 30).  This will be the first time I've really had the opportunity to step away and to disengage from the routines and rituals of ministry since I was ordained nearly thirty years ago.  It is time to let go.

So what's my plan for the gift of sabbatical time?  The main learning will be to experience how it feels not to dress in a suit and tie, a  robe and stole for three months.  I will be giving the Conference cell phone to the person who serves as Acting Conference Minister.  I will not be checking and responding to email.  My keys to the Conference Center will be in someone else's pocket.  For the sabbatical time, being will be more important than doing.

During the sabbatical,

• I plan to cultivate a healthier lifestyle--more regular exercise and a more balanced diet. 
• I plan to spend more reflective time in study and prayer. 
• I plan to work in our home, cleaning up and cleaning out the junk that has a way of piling up. 
• I plan to visit with relatives. 
• I plan to use some banked timeshare weeks and get away. 
• I plan to do some fishing, cycling, and hiking. 

And, when the time is fulfilled, I plan to be back, ready to engage for the next chapter of my ministry in the New Hampshire Conference.

In the meantime, I'm starting to tie up the loose ends and get mentally and spiritually prepared to let go.  May God, who rested on the seventh day, grant me grace to really be gone and to grow through this time of rest and renewal.

 

  

A New Thing

Do not remember the former things,
     or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
     now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

--Isaiah 43:18-19, New Revised Standard Version

USA Today recently reported on a major shift in our culture.  The headline caught my eye, "States Hanging Up on Land Lines."  The article said that Indiana, Wisconsin, Alabama, Kentucky, and Ohio have allowed public service communication companies to discontinue land-line telephone services in their states.  This is not our grandparents' generation.  New things are coming.

That caused me to remember stories about my Uncle Louie, who opposed the expansion of telephone lines in his rural neighborhood in the Twentieth Century.  Uncle Louie apparently saw little use for having party-line phones in every home.  Maybe he objected to having the landscape marred with poles and wires or maybe he saw danger in wasting too much precious time by gossipping over the phone.  Whatever his reason, Uncle Louie was remembered for his crusading spirit on the issue of the telephone.  He was slow to embrace technology.

Churches in the "mainline" are also slow to embrace technology that will assist them in the proclamation of their mission.  Thirty years ago, many of the churches I knew had one phone line that rang in the church office (if there was one) and in the parsonage.  The phones were all of the rotary type.  Parish halls and sanctuaries had no phones in them.  We were slow to get in the Twentieth Century. 

I recall when the Council President in the first church where I served after seminary suggested we replace the aging typewriter with a computer.  My Uncle Louie would have been proud of me, for I argued that we needed to purchase a new self-correcting typewriter instead.  Why in the world would we need a computer?  The idea seemed absurd in 1982.  When the church purchased a computer instead of a typewriter, I was hooked.  How reactionary I had been! 

No, technology is not our salvation; it is but a tool.  The way we use it makes all the difference.  I must confess that I'm not a big fan of projectors and screens in our sanctuaries.  I still appreciate a sermon that is grounded in the texts of scripture.  I like hymns with theological depth rather than endless, mindless choruses.  But, I probably should examine all of those attitudes carefully, for I am, when all is said and done, my Uncle Louie's nephew.

O God, open my eyes, that I may perceive your new thing, and open my spirit to embrace it.

Amen.