Moving Along

"While the church at Antioch was worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia; and from there they sailed to Cyprus." Acts 13:2-4 NRSV

The church has long had leaders called and sent by God’s Spirit. Saul and Barnabas left their congregation to work elsewhere, and new leadership stepped into the roles they vacated in the Antioch church. The pattern holds among us here this season.

Pastor John Nelson has accepted the call you extended to him during the congregational meeting on February 10, and will move quickly to join the staff at Gethsemane. He will join Pastor Laurie for the Maundy Thursday services, and will preach on Easter Sunday. You will have a welcoming reception for Pastor John and his family on Sunday, April 30.

That means that I will depart from my role on Sunday, March 9. That day I will preach to you as your interim pastor for the last time, and I’ll haul away that awful, ugly suitcase. (I’ll need some help packing it, so I’ve asked for the kids to come into the service for that purpose.) There will be a farewell reception between services in the Gathering Space, where I hope we’ll be able to savor the work we’ve done together over the last year and a quarter, and do our heartfelt goodbyes. The two weeks after that time I will use up my remaining vacation days to go with Libby to visit our son in Dallas, Texas, and perhaps see a few birds.

When family members or friends head off to school or for extended trips, we almost always say, “See you later,” or “see you soon.” That’s not true when an interim pastor leaves. When I arrived, you accepted me as one of your pastors, and you have related to me well during the fifteen months we’ve been together. But now that relationship truly has to end in order for your new pastor to step into that role unimpeded. You need to focus on building your relationship with your new pastor and your newly reconfigured staff. In order for that to happen cleanly and without confusion, I need to be utterly gone. So you will not see or hear from me for as many months as I’ve been with you. (That’s the usual formula we interim pastors use.) Please be very clear that my absence and lack of communication is not a sign of my not caring for you deeply; quite the opposite, it is because of my great affection for Gethsemane and for each of you that I want this next transition to go as well as possible. I will do my part by getting out of the way. (I will use this newsletter to let you know what my next assignment is, and that I’m still alive.)

So together we continue a pattern that has long existed in the church: some leaders leave to do new work and others step in to expand upon and further develop the church. Gethsemane is truly blessed to be able to move smoothly and with purpose into your next chapter of ministry! God bless you all!