Transition Time - Everything Changes

(My last Sunday at Unidos por Cristo)

I have had my last meeting at Unidos por Cristo UMC. I have turned in my keys, the church laptop, and the church cell phone. I have said my good-byes and been thrown a despedida (good-bye party). I wish the bugs on US-264 a long life now that I will no longer be regularly driving that route at night.

In one week, I start at Orange UMC.

At first, I thought I'd make a list of all the changes. Then, I realized the number of differences is almost overwhelming and maybe instead I should focus on what will be the same. That list is not very long:

Still serving the same one triune God
Still serving with The United Methodist Church
Still in North Carolina
Still will be doing pastoral care, worship leadership, and leading bible study
Still part-time
Still will have to get up at 6 a.m. on Sunday

So many things are going to be different: setting, language, multiple services, a staff, church age, church size, etc. It reminded me of the last time almost everything in my life changed with not much staying the same.

Five years ago this summer I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. In order to manage it and because of it, almost everything in my life changed. Not all at once, but within about a year. Hair, clothing, shoes, residence, occupation, car, athletic ability, tote bag, contact lens case, diet, patience, and even, after one more year, marital status. That's right, because of my RA, I re-met and started dating my husband when I did (because it was a main reason why I moved from Nicaragua back to North Carolina). By the end, even my name had changed. (Honestly, I felt a lot like Jacob with all the wrestling with God I did because of that disease.)

I do not expect this change in churches to be quite so drastic. It will be more of an external change than one with myself. I will still be seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness before all else. I will still be working toward glimpses of that kingdom here on earth. I will still be working to meet physical and spiritual needs. Just the local setting will be different.

Holy Communion

(This picture is from Easter Sunday.)

One of the things I have been commended for by my church is the hospitality I show on behalf of the church when we celebrate the Lord's Supper. The current "motto" (for lack of a better word) of The United Methodist Church is "Open hearts, open minds, open doors." One of the ways that plays out is that we celebrate an "open table," which means anyone and everyone is welcome to participate in communion. Some churches require that you be a member to partake; others that you be baptized. In The United Methodist Church we say that everyone is welcome. Nothing more matters than that you have a desire to come and "taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8). Every time we celebrate Holy Communion at Unidos por Cristo (about once a month) I make it a point to say that. We have folks from various church and non-church backgrounds - Baptist, Pentecostal, Catholic, lapsed Catholic, etc. I want to make sure that each person present knows that they are welcome at the Lord's table, that it is not my table or the church's table, but it is God's table. And God welcomes everyone who comes to him.

Of course, still not everyone present participates. There are still those who think they are unworthy. Those who think they are not hungry. Those who are still holding on to the tenet of a previous church. Not everyone comes, but everyone is welcome.

Maybe about a month ago I visited with a Señora who was one of those few who stayed in her seat during communion. She shared with me why. Years ago, her family went to the Baptist church up the road. At that church they taught that if you were sinning, then you could not receive communion. She is not married to the man she has lived with for 20 years and the father of her teenage boys. Technically, he never divorced his wife in Mexico. By common-law standards, this Señor and Señora are married. But they've never actually had a wedding in a church. And so she did not participate in the Lord's Supper because she was taught that she was unworthy.

My heart went out to her, while two responses were forming in my head. One, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). No one is worthy. We are all sinners in need of a Redeemer. Two, I was reminded of a song the praise band loves to lead us in: "Amor Sin Condicion" (Unconditional Love). Communion is one sign of God's unconditional love for us, one means of grace. God loves us no matter what. God puts no conditions on his love for us; we put no conditions on who can participate at his table. The Señora said she had heard me say that each time we celebrate communion, but she had not yet been able to come forward. I asked about maybe the next time. She said she would pray; I said I would, too.

This past Sunday we celebrated the Lord's Supper. The Señora participated. Gloria a Dios!

Long-Winded? Who? Me?

I remember in 6th grade when I joined my church's youth group. One of the youth leaders commented that if the whole youth group were made up of Heather Willet's (my maiden name), it would be very quiet because no one would ever speak.

One year in college, some girls on my floor got together and wrote poems about everyone on the floor, likening them to an animal. My animal was mouse and the first line says, "Shy, quiet."

Now, I am less shy than I used to be. I used to be painfully shy; I remember crying once in 4th grade because I was so shy. By no means am I an extrovert, I haven't come out of my shell that much, but I am more out-going than I was as a kid. (We moved after 8th grade and I remember going back to the church we went to when I was in middle school and people commenting on how much more talkative I was - it was because I knew them! They weren't strangers!)

However, I've only become a "chatty Cathy" around my husband. It seems best, at least for now, to tell him everything that goes through my brain rather than risk filtering out something I should tell him. And he doesn't seem to mind occasionally hearing TMI because it means I'm not skipping something that may be important to tell him.

So, pastoring a church, folks have had a hard time figuring out if I'm just reserved or downright unapproachable, because I'm still pretty quiet. I prefer silence to the risk of saying the wrong thing. Plus, sometimes just sitting with someone speaks louder than words. I don't use five words when two will do. And I occasionally had trouble writing academic papers because I don't like repeating myself, so I was tired of saying the same thing by the time I got to the conclusion. Same goes for sermons. When I started, I wrote out manuscripts which were usually six pages (14 point font, Times New Roman, 1.5 spaced, 1" margins) and took 10-12 minutes to preach. I'd repeat once or twice the key idea or verse. Now, with no manuscript and just an outline, apparently I've become wordier. My husband timed me on Sunday and it was a full 30 minutes!!! Granted, I'm not convinced my sermons are better. Length does not a good sermon make. My sermons don't always feel very organized, either, especially when I don't refer to my outline. I know I repeat myself a lot. Yet, my preaching does now better fit the Hispanic culture in which I serve for one more month, where half-hour sermons are normal and expected. Either I'm becoming all things to all people, as Paul writes, or else I've just decided it's okay to be wordy when it comes to preaching the Gospel!