Seven years
Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 7:00PM It struck me as I was eating dinner at Costco tonight that I've been at Richview for seven years now (as of July 2). This is a milestone for me in some ways because it is now officially my longest tenure. Sometime in the past month, I passed the time that I spent at Park Lawn.
You could divide my time at Richview so far into two chapters. In the first chapter, things were pretty turbulent but we also had some good momentum. In the second chapter, we rethought some of our approach and lost some momentum. It hit our numbers this past year. Recently, I had to ask myself if I was in for another chapter or not, and I sensed it wasn't time to quit just yet.
There are a whole bunch of us who have moved past the deconstruction stage and are ready to move on to a whole new chapter. I'm already spending a lot of time getting ready for what's coming next, and discovering others on a similar track, at Richview and elsewhere.
I'm also looking in the mirror a lot. I took the Enneagram test recently and it nailed me, good and bad. Ouch.
I heard of a pastor recently who moved on because for the first time, he couldn't think of where to lead the church next. I can relate. It's also exciting to go through that struggle and finally get a sense of what's next and to see God in that.
Lots of challenges ahead, lots of change, and some regrets - and yet I'm ready.
Thanks to those who have been part of the journey with me so far.
Reader Comments (8)
hmmm ... was half way through a comment and lost it .... so, as i was saying .... no quitting allowed. these seven years @ rbc? ... preparation. i know, easy for me to say ... i am almost at six years here, but i feel we've just begun? i was sitting at rbc on mother's day and i thought ... 'this church doesn't quite realize the pastor they have is ( mostly ) sensitively leading them out of a former era into a necessary new era' ... i look at sermon series, especially 2003-2004-2005 and i see something being led by somebody being led by Someone who said ... "i will build my church and the gates of death will not prevail against it" ... that includes rbc. i used rbc as an example in a leadership meeting here last night ... changing environment, unique demographics, etc ... to move now could be to move just when the investment is turning into return on investment ( kingdom :)
I didn't know people actually admitted eating dinner at Costco:)
Hey, man, love that Costco pizza! Seriously though, dude, I've often compared ordination to getting married and having a second wife, not nearly as kind as the first one, but still a second wife. Any possibility you're feeling the ministerial equivalent of the seven year itch?
Don: Thanks for the encouragement. Our dinner together was a significant one in sensing what's coming next. George: Kids love Costco dinners (hot dogs and pizzas). I grossed them out by getting a lobster roll. ;) Mike: I'm not really sensing an itch, but I will share sometime what I've been processing, mainly about my leadership style.
I haven't seen to many churches that keep a pastor for 7 years. I don't know where God is taking you, but I do know He has His hand on your life. Here I am, send me. That's faithfulness and trust and I can see from your church member's comment your ministry matters a lot. God bless and keep you.
Thanks, Bene. (By the way, Don's not a church member, of Richview anyway.)
The thing I don't understand is how pastor's determine "when their work is done" at a church. Why can't they just stay in the church family through thick and thin? I realize that violations of the bible or conscience could change things, but I feel like a lot of pastors camouflage their lack of perseverance with "the Lord's leading" and "I've done all I can here." I found it curious that every pastor who's ever left a church I was at moves on to a bigger one and happens to earn more money.
Trish: I think you're right overall. The smartest pastors I know go through this process in community, asking key people, "Do you sense my time here is done?" Much better than moving when things get tough.