“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now…”
(Philippians 1:3-5)
On August 15, 2023, I marked my thirtieth anniversary as an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church. A lot of water has passed under the bridge in 30 years. I don’t know what I was thinking church ministry would be like 30 years ago, but whatever I was thinking, ministry in real life has been something I couldn’t imagine. Only God knew what I was going to be doing over these thirty years.
I do know this: Ministry isn’t for sissies. It’s challenging, every step of the way. As my wife and children can tell you, pastoral ministry isn’t an eight-to-five, Monday-through-Friday job. There are session meetings and committee meetings that go late into the night. There are midnight calls when someone has passed away or been in an accident, and more session meetings and committee meetings. There are midweek pot-lucks and Saturday work days, and more session meetings and committee meetings. There are mission trips and youth group meetings, and more session meetings and committee meetings. There are very few nights when a pastor goes to bed that he or she does not wonder whether they will get a call.
But with every challenge there have been innumerable blessings. Being a pastor, I discovered long ago, is a sacred privilege to care for and guide and nurture and work with the people whom God has placed in my path.
Over the past week or so I have taken time to reflect on 30 years of ordained ministry. I have served in four congregations in three states, and now as chaplain at The Village at Summerville (a Presbyterian retirement, assisted living, and skilled nursing community). The congregations have ranged in size from 130 members to 1,200 members. I have served as solo pastor, associate pastor, head of staff, and now chaplain. In the past 30 years I estimate that I have preached more than 1,200 times, officiated nearly 200 memorial services and funerals, and officiated between 45 and 50 weddings (I will soon be officiating two weddings at the retirement community where I am currently serving, so love truly never ends…).
I cannot reflect on my years in pastoral ministry without deep gratitude for the influence, love, wisdom, and support of my wife, Carol. She has encouraged me, worked alongside me, given me honest and loving critiques. She also made more sacrifices than I can count in order to allow me to meet the demands of ministry. And too many times our children have heard me say that I couldn’t do something with them because of the demands of my workload. For the times I couldn’t be there for them, I ask for their forgiveness.
"Blessed be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love; the fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above."
More than anything I have done, more than any role I have played in any given setting, it is the people of God who have had the greatest impact on me as a pastor. The church members and other people I have served have always treated me and my family with love and kindness. I am amazed at the people with whom I have shared table fellowship, and those who have worked diligently in the ministries of the church, and those who have so generously supported the church through challenging times.
There comes a time in every pastor’s ministry that we stop thinking of the people we serve simply as “church members,” and we realize they have become friends, and even more, brothers and sisters in Christ. I am blessed that everywhere I have served as a pastor (and now, chaplain), I have reached that point. I am profoundly and eternally grateful for the amazing people who have been part of my life because of my role as pastor and because of our shared love for Jesus.
One of the greatest miracles of the Christian faith, I believe, is the power of the Holy Spirit to bring together a rag-tag group of people from different walks of life, and make us into a huge family. The number of people who are part of my life for no other reason than because we share a common faith in, and love for, Jesus as our Savior and our Lord, blows my mind.
I would be remiss if I failed to mention the amazing colleagues with whom I have worked in the churches and ministries I have served: fellow pastors and associate pastors, support staff, youth and children’s ministry directors, dining staff, volunteers, elders and deacons, presbytery colleagues… Truly, the list is too long to enumerate. I thank God for the privilege of serving alongside so many gifted people.
What Paul said to his brothers and sisters in Christ in Philippi beautifully captures the way I feel about the people whom God has put in my path and for whom I have had the privilege of caring as their pastor: “I thank my God every time I remember you… because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now…”
After thirty years of ministry I am still in love with the people whom God entrusts into my care. I do thank God every time I remember you…
