The Joys of the Itinerrancy and other Wesleyan Type Goings-On

evalve — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 02:29:30 +0000

Ah, the joys of moving from one appointment to another. In Methodist-speak, appointment means the black smear the bishop makes on a list of the names of pastors in his/her annual conference. These smears are usually made in grease pencil or charcoal briquets, depending on whether the bishop and cabinet need to send a smoke announcement of appointments or not. In my particular situation I had to announce that I was leaving on Palm Sunday. The waving of palm branches and laying of cloaks on the ground alas, were no longer for me; they became symbols of celebration for some, and true methods of sadness for others. In all honesty, these were never for me, the children truly used them for Jesus and His entry into Jerusalem or the stained carpet narthex and aisles of our old church. And yes, I used that old “story” (Pastor-speak for “joke”) about the little boy who was sick on Palm Sunday and could not attend worship with his family and when his older brother came home he was waving the palm branch given to him during worship. The sick brother asked his brother, “What is that for?” The older brother said, “We were given these to wave as Jesus came in to our church!” The sick brother replied, “It figures. The one Sunday I’m not there and Jesus decides to show up!”

My announcing on Palm Sunday only meant that my announcing of the new pastor would take place on Easter. What a joy that would be! It was bad enough experiencing the tears and sadness of the folks who would truly miss me on Palm Sunday and now the announcing of a new pastor only brought reality to those who didn’t believe it last Sunday or didn’t hear it last Sunday or heard the news last Sunday or Monday, and wanted to be present in church in case I made another announcement or not.

One man did not hear it either time. In fact as I was greeting people in the handshake ritual on Easter (and we had a record crowd for Easters), one man gruffly said, “See ya next Easter!” I replied instantly, “No you won’t! I’m moving!” I don’t think this man could hear anything anyway. He just kept walking. I reflected on the sadness and pleasure in being able to say that immediately, like Peter, without really thinking about it. “No you won’t!” That’s pretty final. You may decide to come worship or whatever it is you do when you’re in our church next year, but I won’t be here.

Since then I’ve been to the “new” church and met the new SPRC. Since then I’ve been to the “new” church to meet the new staff. Since then I’ve been to the “new” city and enjoyed the realities of buying our first home. At long last I leave the security and protection of Mother Church-provided housing into the security and uncertainty of our own, personal housing. All my life I’ve lived in places provided by Mom and Dad, the university, Mother Church, and now us! Oh, the joys of the intinerancy.

Pray for all who are moving. Pray harder for those staying!

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evalve — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 02:05:09 +0000

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The Joys of the Itinerrancy and other Wesleyan Type Goings-On

Hello world!