The Excitement of Change
Sunday morning in worship at St. Peter’s our Senior Pastor, Dan Miller, shared with us that the sermon he was going to preach was not the sermon he had planned to preach. As he woke early Sunday morning, he said, it was clear to him that the Gospel reading for the week, John 12:1-8, the story of Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume, had a different meaning than the one he had intuited earlier in the week. So, at 5:00 a.m. Sunday morning, the sermon changed.
Sitting in the pew (yes, the same one where we always sit) and listening to Dan, I was struck not only by the richness of his message, but also by his ability to change at the last minute. Most clergy whom I know spend many, many hours praying, planning and working on their sermons before we ever hear them preached. Knowing Dan, I know that he does this, too. On the few occasions when I have preached, I am constantly amazed that our clergy brothers and sisters can do this every week. The Bible, of course, tells many stories and there are probably as many interpretations of the stories as there are readers. So there is always good material to start with. I know that I can read the same stories at different times in my life and take away different thoughts and lessons, depending on what is happening with me. Not only do many of our clergy spend lots of time and energy preparing sermons every week, the energy it takes to deliver them well is something I never appreciated until I had to do it. Exhaustion is what I usually feel following my times in the pulpit. Yes, I do feel an incredible sense of accomplishment when people tell me afterwards that I did a good job or that they really appreciated my words. But after that, I’m tired!
Thinking about Dan changing his message literally at the last minute Sunday is astonishing to me. But then this morning, laying in bed before my alarm went off, I had a sense that I needed to change the content of this blog entry for this week. Usually I write these after writing them in my mind before I every sit down at my computer. The final product gets worked on as I drive, walk my dogs, and even sometimes as I exercise. For this week, I was getting pretty close to finalizing my thoughts before writing them down.
When I sat down with my devotional this morning, I finally got the message. Part of it read, “You can feel secure, even in the midst of cataclysmic changes, through awareness of My continual presence. The One who never leaves you is the same One who never changes. I am the same yesterday, today, and forever.” The scripture reading was Hebrews 13:8, “ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”
There are no cataclysmic changes in my life or in the life of St. Peter’s. But there are lots of changes! Our Senior Pastor, Dan Miller, is retiring. Being a part of the
Now that I have the opportunity to work with the Cabinet, I understand much better how this appointment process works. Having been through the process twice before at St. Peter’s I have grieved with the rest of the church watching well-loved pastors go and unknown pastors come. But never before have I seen a change of appointment happen with so much excitement and anticipation. And here is why.
Please understand that I do not participate in the appointment process. I never know who is going where until the formal announcement is made. But I do know that our Bishop and Cabinet members work incredibly hard to send the right minister to the right church and mission field to do God’s work. And they don’t do this work in a vacuum! All of their work is clothed in prayer. Never are decisions made precipitously. Appointments are considered, discussed, prayed about and then considered again! Although the whole process is complicated, it is a process carried out with God at its center.
So why am I excited about the changes coming to my church and other churches welcoming new clergy leaders? Because every time we have had a change at St. Peter’s, we have been blessed by the gifts that person brought to us. Each of them has been different, each has become well-loved in their tenure with us, and we have grown in our faith as a church with each new appointment. All of their preaching styles have been different, their leadership styles have been different, their personalities have been different. But their commitment to God, the
As Dan leaves us to move into his next phase of ministry (no, just because he is retiring I don’t think God is finished with him), I am sad that I won’t see him regularly anymore. But I know that with the impact he has had on my life, the life of my family and
As we prepare to welcome Don Smith and his family to St. Peter’s, I am confident that we will find spiritual adventures ahead of us as we walk together down this road.
Change has never been something I have done easily. But as I woke this morning thinking about Dan’s flexibility on Sunday, feeling moved to change my focus, reading the words of Hebrews 13:8, I know that I can change because God never does! In this season of change within our church, I hope you will find comfort in those words as well.
Showers of Blessings!
Leah Taylor