I am writing this morning from the Holiday Inn in Columbia, Missouri, where the Missouri Mid-South Conference, UCC is meeting for our Conference Annual Gathering. This is my first Conference meeting since bidding the New Hampshire Conference, United Church of Christ farewell in August of last year, when I was blessed on my way. This is also an anniversary. It was one year ago on this same weekend at Horton Center that I informed the Board of Directors in the New Hampshire Conference of my emerging call and requested appropriate confidentiality until that call was accepted. I remember hiking with the Conference President to the ledges to survey the expansive, magnificent view of the White Mountains before leaving the camp for the last time. The photos are etched in my memory.
What I am concluding in these days back in my home Conference is that I need to let some things go. Sometimes the memories are too pointed, too painful, and far too subjective to be helpful. I miss my days in Conference ministry very much. I miss the relationships, the colleagues, and the friends. I miss pinochle games and Hallelujah Farm. I miss the beautiful geography that had become home in a very deep way. I miss the spirit of those rugged New Englanders. I miss the engagement in the public square where we raised our voices in song and prayer and courageous witness to the love of God for all people. I miss being up front and offering a word of encouragement, hope, and challenge to the Conference at an Annual meeting.
Yes, I am waxing nostalgic this morning, but I also know that I am again at home. St. Peter's United Church of Christ is my calling body and I have promised to serve that setting faithfully--as faithfully as I know how--in this time. I am grateful for those who continue to lead in the wider settings of the United Church of Christ, but it is good to be grounded again in a living community of faith. It is good to get to know more and more people in Washington, Missouri and hear their stories and share their prayers.
So this post is a way for me to let it all go so that I can really be where I am called to be. I cannot go back, but I can be here and look forward to what God has in store for us in the future. Through it all, I know that in the baptismal waters, I am forever blessed to be a child of God, a disciple of Christ, and a member of the Church.
Thanks be to God!
What I am concluding in these days back in my home Conference is that I need to let some things go. Sometimes the memories are too pointed, too painful, and far too subjective to be helpful. I miss my days in Conference ministry very much. I miss the relationships, the colleagues, and the friends. I miss pinochle games and Hallelujah Farm. I miss the beautiful geography that had become home in a very deep way. I miss the spirit of those rugged New Englanders. I miss the engagement in the public square where we raised our voices in song and prayer and courageous witness to the love of God for all people. I miss being up front and offering a word of encouragement, hope, and challenge to the Conference at an Annual meeting.
Yes, I am waxing nostalgic this morning, but I also know that I am again at home. St. Peter's United Church of Christ is my calling body and I have promised to serve that setting faithfully--as faithfully as I know how--in this time. I am grateful for those who continue to lead in the wider settings of the United Church of Christ, but it is good to be grounded again in a living community of faith. It is good to get to know more and more people in Washington, Missouri and hear their stories and share their prayers.
So this post is a way for me to let it all go so that I can really be where I am called to be. I cannot go back, but I can be here and look forward to what God has in store for us in the future. Through it all, I know that in the baptismal waters, I am forever blessed to be a child of God, a disciple of Christ, and a member of the Church.
Thanks be to God!
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