Ministry Update: Reflections from a Goodbye Party
On Saturday our dear friends from the Ebenezer Baptist Church held a farewell shindig for us. It had a kind of dual significance: not only are we leaving for furlough shortly, but we are also bidding a fond adieu to eight years of pastoral ministry at Ebenezer. From this point on out (actually, from January) that ministry will be led by Pastor Francivaldo.
Needless to say, this moment was very special for our whole family. What follows are some random thoughts that have rattled around in my mind since the party.
- There are better feelings that that which comes from knowing you have left a ministry in good hands.
- I don’t cry easily. Unless everybody around me is crying. Then the waterworks begin.
- The things people are grateful for are not necessarily the things we expected them to be grateful for.
- One of the best ways to show a pastor he is appreciated is to remember something he said in a sermon.
- If your wife has been a vital part of your ministry, this kind of moment is when it will become evident.
- I’m more convinced than ever that for the last eight years I have not been planting a church. I’ve been watching God plant a church.
- Related: This ministry was never mine. It has always been God’s.
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