June 16, 2021
As I write my last entry for Voices from the Hills, I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude, confidence, and an awareness of God’s blessing.
Gratitude for the gifts that I have known in ministry with the Hills Church for seven years. We have been through so much together, and I have been blessed to share this passage of our lives together with you. In the past few weeks, as I have shared messages of farewell, memories of these years have resurfaced. The memories come with laughter and tears, and a sense of gratitude to God for all of you.
My confidence is in the future of the Hills Church. It has been my privilege to serve with Rev. Judy Swahnberg and Rev. Anne Marie Holloway. Their wisdom, and energy, and pastoral gifts are superb, and so I know that the church is in good hands. Alongside them, John Finney, Sally Tomasetti, and the rest of the church staff bring excellence and faith to their work, and I cannot imagine a better set of people to work with in ministry.
My confidence also stems from the members of this church, because I know well your abilities to provide leadership, and the dedication of your support.
I have been praying for the person who will come to be your interim senior minister, and then the person who will be called as the next settled senior minister. When I hold these people in prayer, whoever they may be, I feel a sense of excitement. They don’t know how good they will have it.
Surely, God’s blessing is evident in the life of the Hills Church. God’s blessing does not mean that we will not experience hardship, pain, and tragedy. It does mean that the strength of God’s love will bear us up. Nor does God’s blessing mean that there will never be disappointments, disagreements, or unwelcome surprises. It does mean that God brings good out of trouble, and reconciliation to the ways in which we fray at the seams.
In the old English of the Christmas carol “God rest ye merry gentlemen,” the word merry means strong (as in Robin Hood’s merry men), and the word rest means to keep and sustain. So the carol that we sing in December is a prayer that God will keep you strong. This is my prayer for you.
God rest ye merry, dear Hills Church.
Peace,
