A Minor Milestone

Earlier this week, I completed the course of one year in my new ministry with St. Peter's United Church of Christ.  That's not a long time in the sweep of the 175-year history of this congregation.  I am "running the race" that is set before me in company with a congregation and wider community that I am learning how to love.

It has not been an easy year, for I have often lived with the feeling that I left my previous ministry prematurely.  I have grieved deeply in the past twelve months, having severed the ties that bound me to the churches, the members, and staff of the New Hampshire Conference, United Church of Christ.  I have missed being a leader in the wider settings of the church.  Diana Butler Bass in her book, Grateful, notes that nostalgia creates unrealistic pictures of the past.  We glorify the good old days and forget the pain and difficulties of those days.  A year later, it is clear to me that I am gone.  And now, a new Conference Minister has been called there, who will lead and love in the field that I once tended.  I remember Paul's words in I Corinthians 3:6ff.: 

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.  The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each.  For we are God's servants, working together, you are God's field, God's building.

New Revised Standard Version

I'm here.  I am grateful.  The finish line is not yet in sight.  This is a sprint and a marathon.  I am pressing on in this race.  

Here is what I've seen thus far, just twelve months into this race:  

• St. Peter's United Church of Christ is a strong congregation of Christ's people.  
• There are few occasions where both congregations (Saturday night and Sunday morning worshipers) ever meet together.  
• We still many members, perhaps a majority of members, who are still out there in the shadows somewhere.  Maybe they are waiting for just the right time to return and be actively involved; perhaps they will always stay at the margins, or perhaps they will never return because they are already gone.  Writing them off is not the answer.  Inviting them to come home is.  
• We have many others, in and around Washington, who feel that a church will look down on them or their lifestyles.  They need to know they are loved and included, accepted and embraced by God and God's people.  We all have "something" that might seem to disqualify us from grace.  Even so, God loves us.  We need each other and all others.
• I have also observed that some cherished traditions have eroded away, especially with Sunday school, youth ministry, and confirmation.  Perhaps a church of older adults does not need to spend precious energy being anxious about such things.  We are who we are--who God is calling us to be.  
• Sometimes it seems to me that our priorities are misplaced with too much energy and emphasis on money and "paying down" (not "paying off") the old, weighty debt.  
• I have also seen the toll that deferred building maintenance takes.  Thankfully, the major roof repairs are done.  What's next?
• I celebrate the active social service ministries that happen because St. Peter's decided to stay downtown and to care for the poor close-up in our community.   I wonder though whether we can really see Christ in the shelterless and hungry ones who come through our doors.  Why do we do what we are doing? 
• I am inspired by the beautiful music that fills the sanctuary as we worship together. The musicians and choirs are the best!  We are blessed!
• I see how hard many others work as they run along beside me.  Your commitment and care for Christ's church are a source of encouragement and great joy.

Yes, there is a race to be run.  I am here.  I am exceedingly grateful.

O God, who calls us all to the race, give us grace to run this course with persevering love.  Give us space to breathe and be in the presence of your Spirit.  With gratitude for the wonder of life, the joy of being in this blessed community of your people, and hope of what is yet to come, I pray:  Come, Holy Spirit!  Amen.