From the Pastor

Spiritual Garage
When I was a teenage I was given the job of cleaning and reorganizing our one-car garage. I was just about done when one of my (four) sisters came riding up and left her bike lying on the floor. So I picked it up and threw it into the yard. Which led to an argument. Which brought mom out. I made the mistake of mouthing off to mom and she came after me, so I took off running, Around the house. She couldn’t catch me and soon gave up and went inside. The phone was ringing and when mom answered it the man on the other end was old Mr. Russell who lived across the street from us. He asked her only one question: “Did you catch him?”
My relationship with Jesus has often been like that and I can almost hear the times God has asked, “Did you catch him?” For example, I was probably the last one to realize God was calling me into the ministry and we had many a go-around even after I came to that understanding. But His call to interim ministry was not like that at all. Once I understood what this type of ministry was all about I responded pretty quickly. And I feel pretty strongly that this is where He wants me to be and what He wants me to be doing.
One of the first things an Interim helps a congregation deal with is anxiety. When a pastor leaves a church the system known as a congregation gets anxious. Who will lead worship? Who will provide pastoral care? Who will teach confirmation? Anxiety over all the unknowns can very often lead to conflict. But just by showing up an Interim allows everyone to relax a bit and breathe. All of the “we’re glad you’re here” comments serve as evidence that anxiety levels have come down.
My next step is to become part of the Britton Lutheran Parish. So I’ll be plugging in wherever I can to get to know you, to see how you do things, and to begin fining my way. I’ll work with transition team to put together a process whereby we’ll explore together the history of this Parish. What are good memories and bad? What big events mark your history? Who were the pastors who served here and what do you remember about them? All of this helps all of us understand how God has used this aparish, gets any secrets out, and helps us begin wondering how God might be getting ready to use us going forward. Once we know that, we can proceed to actually talking to perspective candidates for the position of pastor.
The self-examination used to be the part that took the longest. Today, however, the actual search for a good and qualified pastor usually takes the lonest. There are just not enough pastors to go around and unless we are very fortunate the search will take some time. SO managing anxiety and being patient will need to be the tools exercised during this time.
I’m excited to be here and look forward to getting to know you and your way of life. Not sure I can say that about winter in SD, but we’ll see.
Blessings, PC