"I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning."

(Psalm 130:5-6).

Dear Friends in Christ,

I really haven’t heard this particular question from any of you yet – maybe I am the only one asking! How long will the interim process take? Am I the only one who is impatient? Just how long will we have to wait for your next pastor to arrive?

The words from the Psalmist above are very helpful for me, if not for our great congregation. I need to be patient and wait for the LORD, WE need to be patient and wait for the LORD to do the work in us.

What happens first? We need to come to terms with our history. We will hold a series of “town meetings” to look back on Calvin’s past, and look at the key events in the last fifty years. How did we react? Was there anger? Sorrow? Confusion? Joy? Relief? Again, I thank Bob Bridges for the excellent history he compiled for the anniversary – this will be a good place to start. We will place a “timeline” around the walls in Fellowship Hall to see the key events, and take note of our reactions to those events.

From what I have been able to glean these past several weeks, Calvin has been, and will continue to be, a loving family of God who looks forward, instead of behind. When big things happen to the family, a certain amount of time is spent looking at each event, but then the family moves on. The recent departure of Jim Bernard is a great example. Jim spent over eighteen wonderful years leading the flock, and you are praising God for his service. But the family also knows that there are some exciting things on the horizon, and we are preparing for them.

To help lead the interim process, we will be assembling a Transition Team. This will be a group of four or five persons, from across the congregation, who will facilitate the interim process. These folks had better be ready to work! They need to be trustworthy, and they need to be able to listen to what the congregation has to say about things. For example, as we look over the past fifty years, we will form small groups to talk about the key events. The Transition Team members need to be able to organize these small group discussions, and summarize the thoughts from the group. If you have some suggestions for Team members, let me know.

I am hopeful this first phase will be finished by summer’s end, maybe sooner. Once we have looked at how we have responded to key events in the past, we will have a good idea as to how we might respond to our future plans. Our past is what shapes our identity, as well as our future. How we behave in the past is always a good indicator of what will be important to us for the future.

If anyone is impatient like me, that’s OK. You love your church, like I do. I want to move as quickly as possible, but we need to move as deliberately as possible too. And guess who can help us move at just the right speed? The LORD! Together, let us wait on the LORD, and listen to his direction.


Yours in Christ,