Going public

Today I made the announcement to staff, and wrote an article for our church newsletter, that I, in fact, have a blog, and actually listed the address for it in the newsletter. And so, my public blog life begins...

I am off to the conference Minister's School tomorrow at Tan-tar-a at the Lake of the Ozarks until Thursday afternoon. It's a time to hear some great speakers, to be with colleagues, and to hear rumblings of the "move machine" that will start its engine in a few weeks,. There are several retirements occurring amongst older colleagues, and there will be many moves this year.

Itinerancy is an interesting thing with which to live, and I have lived with it for the past 27 or so years. I think I really do understand the theological intergrity that, at least at one time or in a perfect world, that it had or is supposed to have. And I actually buy into it most of the time. There is something to be said about living in the moment, at least in the reality of a year at a time that itinerancy means for the pastor and for the church. It is sort of a metaphor for life--live for this year, not the next, no one is assured of more than this moment, live it to the fullest, etc. And simply to practice the spiritual discipline of placing your life and livelihood in the hands of the bishop, I think, is a practice of obedience that can foster a deepening of personal faith.

But, alas, our system is not perfect as no human-made system is. Some appointments work out, others don't. Some pastors are more gifted than others, and can fit well most any place. Others are more limited in gifts and others' lives are made difficult by family issues, and a spouse and children whose needs should be and must be priorities. Some churches are kinder and more accepting than others. Some pastors don't know how to lead. Some churches have forgotten how to be led.

But, this is the incarnation of the church that I love and which is a part of me through and through. And so, I would guess, I will live within this sometimes wonderful, sometimes troubling system for the rest of my borned days. Homeward bound, we all are, in one way or antoher, as Simon and Garfunkel reminded us many years ago. And wherever we are or find ourselves, we still are on that journey. What a life...what an adventure...what a joy.