Week One

One week ago yesterday, I left a place that had become a second home to me. It was a place I had grown incredibly comfortable at over the course of the last two years. I knew my way around, people came to me for answers, and I had a concrete place in the community. People knew me, and I knew the people. Pastor Kyle. Congregation. It was great!

Probably the most difficult aspect of ministry as I have known it, is the temporariness of it all. Growing up, we moved four different times. In my life within ministry (the past 4 years), I have worked at three different churches in three or four different positions. Now, I know that I am still a student and this displacement is “normal,” but still, ministry doesn’t always afford permanence or stability. Should it? (that last question will be left to hang for now, perhaps to be revisited in a later post!).

So I have once again “moved on.” I am now in Long Branch, NJ. A mile from the beach. Exploring ministry possibilities. And I cannot help but feel a little lost. No doubt, moving into an existing community is challenging in its own right, but to move into a place where you are to create that community? It is a daunting task!

I still feel unsettled. When the couple who is now living in the parsonage move out within the next couple of weeks, I can start setting up my life and things can start to feel a little more like “home.” That will help. Getting to know people in the community- that will also help. Knowing that there are people in churches in New Jersey and New York that are praying for me- that helps a lot. So really, I am not alone at all!

One of the lectionary readings for this past Sunday was Psalm 114. It is a recounting of the Exodus, when Moses led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. Throughout their history, the Israelites turned away from God again and again, and time and time again, God kept calling them back, largely through the prophets. One of the most repeated phrases throughout the Old Testament (seems to me at least!) to be “remember the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of slavery” (or something like that). It is a call to remember where they came from. What is our story? Where have we come from? Only by really engaging and remembering the past, can we have any idea where we are and where we are going. Only by remembering my past, learning from my experiences, and engaging them, can I head into tomorrow. And you know what? God will be there!