On June 9th, Erica, Bailey, and I experienced our second move. Our first move took us from Houston to Edom (in East Texas). This latest move took us from Edom to Port Arthur (Southeast Texas).
So what is it exactly that I am doing now? It is a little complicated, but let me try and explain.
This is Aldersgate Trinity United Methodist Church:
3/4 of my appointment is to serve as the pastor of this church. This includes preaching, teaching, ordering the life of the church, visitation, administering the sacraments, etc...you know, normal preacher stuff.
This is the United Methodist Temple:
1/4 of my appointment is to serve as the associate pastor of this church. My main purpose here is to launch a new worship service and outreach ministry called Encounters (you can check Encounters out at their blog here and on Facebook here) and to assist the senior pastor in any way that I can.
So I am still serving a two point charge, I am just 240 miles south of where I was. I invite you to check out the related links on the right for more information about Aldersgate Trinity United Methodist Church, the United Methodist Temple, or Encounters.
We are really grateful for the welcome we have received since our arrival and are looking forward to what God has in store for us in this new appointment!
2 comments:
I knew the Salvation Army moved people around like this, but I didn't know that other denominations did the same thing. At least you and the respective churches don't have to play a waiting game.
Here's something I wrote in January on this topic:
http://paulwilkinson.wordpress.com/?s=pastoral+transitions
Paul,
Thanks for your comment and your link! Our denomination (United Methodist) is completely itinerant. I laughed when I read about one truck loading while another is waiting to unload...I haven't run into that quite yet, but have come real close! While I love the system that I am in, I have seen it break down just like the "call"/"search committee" system of other denominations. While other folks have a long wait attempting to get the right pastor, some bishops and cabinets within our denomination struggle getting that "appointed" match between pastor and mission field. There are denominations that are doing a hybrid of the two with some moderate success, but it seems like there is not a perfect solution to date.
Thanks for taking the opportunity to read the blog. I look forward to future interactions!
Blessings,
Russell
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