A Message from the Pastor
Whenever I gather with other pastors who are in their first calls, I inevitably hear stories from colleagues who have had awful first call experiences. From renegade council members to conflicts over cemetery plots, I seem to have heard them all. Perhaps my favorite was about a young pastor who refused to allow the Masonic Order to perform rites inside the church, and was skewered in the local media for this fact.
The problem I encounter is that when people begin to talk about how rough first call was for them, I have very little to say. I have had a wonderful first call here at Christ the King. In many ways, I wish my colleagues could have the same type of experience I had here. As community, Christ the King was affirming of the gifts I had to offer. You tolerated my penchant for high church liturgies (even coming when incense was used), listened attentively to sermon illustrations that were less-than-traditional (I seem to remember quoting the movie Fight Club once), and even humored me while I taught a series for our teens on how the Gospel is present in my favorite television show, The Simpsons. You even managed to make it through almost six years of terrible chanting!
By the same token, you challenged me. If I said something or did something that you thought was incorrect, you called me on it. This helped me to achieve a higher level of professional, personal, and ministerial integrity and honesty. In this way, you as a community helped me grow.
Most of all, I feel like I was blessed to be here as we ministered to one another. When I went through a divorce and wondered how I would be received, I was greeted with open arms and compassionate hearts. When I was ready to walk away from the possibility of ordination, you encouraged me to stay true to the calling. I will never forget my ordination in this church, and how you greeted me with a full set of beautiful Eucharistic vestments that were so lovingly handmade. When I met Ezel and remarried, you rejoiced with me. When I adopted Asheton, you did the same. When we lost back-to-back pregnancies, you wept with us. When Dory was born, you celebrated with us.
I hope even now – as we prepare to take our leave from this wonderful community – that you continue to celebrate with us. Let us celebrate the new calls God has placed on the life of my family and the life of this church. Let us be bold in our faith and fearless in our proclamation of the reconciling love of God shown to us most clearly in Jesus Christ.
I am sure that one day in the future I will again find myself sitting around with fellow pastors who will swap stories about their first calls, and when it comes to my turn, my story will begin like this, “Let me tell you about how wonderful my first call was at Christ the King in Cumming.”