CHANGE

It is axiomatic that change is stressful. People will endure a lot to avoid change; witness the majority French refusal to become involved in the Resistance during WWII.

Our church received the painful news this weekend that our pastor of nearly 12 years is leaving for another call. This is the man who shepherded our flock on the long, but amazingly wonderful trip out of the PC(USA) and into our gracious new denominational affiliation with the EPC. He is my dear friend as well as my pastor; my traveling companion to convocations in Denver, Edina, Tulsa, Orlando, Sacramento, and Bay Village, as well as countless trips to presbytery meetings. I have learned so much from him and will miss him as my pastor (although we will remain fast friends and colleagues in ministry).

Our congregation will now enter the process of calling the new pastor that God has already picked for us.

In the meantime, as frail humans we do not seek or desire change. When it is put before us anyway, we come to realize that it is only through God's grace and our faith in His risen Son that we can move on.