Pastoral transitions are funny things. They’re inevitable—no pastor serves a congregation forever—and yet they nearly always catch most people off-guard—including the pastor! Twelve months ago I wasn’t even seriously considering being anywhere else. Eight months ago Sister Jennie and I began to ask, “what if?” and less than a month later we first heard there was a congregation in southern Oregon that might make good use of both our sets of gifts.
But it never felt inevitable until—well, we have a new house under contract and a moving van booked. I suppose that settles it. Part of our hearts will remain in Tulsa, just as we still feel a strong affinity for the Peaks of Otter in southern Virginia.
So, far from “getting out of Dodge” as fast as possible, we’re doing—indeed, for months now we’ve been doing—everything we can think of to set Joy up well for the future God intends for y’all.
We’ve been cleaning up and sorting Joy’s archives—even as my desk remains a mess. We’ve been meeting with key leaders to pass along “institutional knowledge”—including things we’ve learned in just the last few months. We continue to work to integrate relatively new members—though we’ll never get to know them as well as we’d like.
Transitions are a time when other folks will come and go. It’s inevitable. It’s also a time when financial supporters tend to pull back. That’s not inevitable. I’m going to encourage Joy’s leadership to tackle a few big-ticket property maintenance projects in the transition period, and also do some collective soul-searching as to where y’all see Joy headed next.
That’ll all work best if you strongly consider maintaining your support of Joy—financially, but also with your attention, attendance, engagement, and maybe even stepping up in a new way. That’ll look different for each of you. But if you love Joy like we’ve come to, it’ll be a “no-brainer.”
- Pastor Jon
