A Chapter Closed

Today I completed my internship with Village Presbyterian Church in Ladera Ranch. It was wonderful to be able to worship with the community this morning. I was given the opportunity to preach. My text was Hebrews 11 (selected verses), a classic text that has been very important to me in my journey through seminary, ministry, family life and even cancer. And it's a text that speaks well into a community of people who are following God's call to start a church in a challenging environment. It has been a wonderful, brief journey with Village and even though I wish I had more time with them, both in terms of longevity and also in terms of given hours, I can say that it has been a fruitful time for me, and hopefully to some degree, for Village. I enjoyed participating in worship and preaching on a few occasions, and I enjoyed the challenge of beginning and maintaining a few home groups. It was good news to hear this morning that some of the home groups are continuing on beyond me. Knowing that I would be leaving after nine months, I never wanted the home groups to rely on my efforts. Two of the most fruitful aspects of the internship for me were first, the time I spent with Steve. He has been a great pastoral mentor for me, one who was transparent enough to allow me to feel comfortable to share my struggles with and receive solid guidance from (not simply the fluffy stuff that come from shallow relationships). Whenever we met, he always seemed to care first about how I was doing in every aspect of life before getting to the tasks of ministry. I greatly appreciate that, especially in the stage of life I'm currently in. I also enjoyed being kind of a fly on the wall, watching and observing Steve, Leanne and others as they "do" new church development in our day's world. They are fantastic people and I admire their sense of call, their commitment and their leadership abilities. It can be a real pain in the butt to set up church every week in a school, but it was encouraging to see how the set up team served diligently and even had fun doing it (I really don't think they set-up or anything they do as a pain in the butt). One thing I learned about new church development is that it has to remain fun and light-hearted in order to to be life-giving in the midst of challenges. Village does that well!

But even though my time with Village was brief, saying goodbye was still difficult. Every time a chapter closes and there is a goodbye, there is a feeling of loss needs to be embraced. Our life stories seem to be filled with chapters--chapters that have to close before beginning a new chapter. It's hard to close chapters at times, and sometimes it's easier to try and keep the chapter open and resist the call to trust God with the next chapter, because we don't always know the events that will take place in the next chapter. One of my thoughts that came through in the sermon today was that trust only works in the dark. If we can see where we're going, if we've got our future all figured out, we don't have reason to use our faith. They say that preachers do best when they are preaching to themselves. That was the case for me today.  

It was a nice good-bye to Village this morning. Leanne was so gracious in publicly thanking me for my time with Village, and I was presented with an awesome plaque with today's bulletin and a picture of me preaching (which I think will be placed in VPC office). I was expecting nothing but a nice good-bye, but what a thoughtful piece of honor I received (Village Pres is also very good at hospitality!). Village will remain as a short chapter in my life, but I imagine my friendships with Steve, Leanne, and perhaps others, will continue in the years to come. 

Comments

[Deyl]

wish i could have heard your farewell sermon! congrats on another successful step in your ministry :)

[Steve]

Chris, I wish all could hear your sermon...sorry for the technical glitch but, clearly, you smacked the ball way over the wall. It has been our great pleasure to be a small part of your formation in Christ. I will miss our stimulating conversations and your helpful participation with us. Your gifts in leading, caring, preaching and praying were always evident at Village. I'm eager to see how your experience at Princeton will further shape your life for the call God has placed upon you. I hope the blogging continues because yours is a story I will continue to follow. Blessings to you and to your family in these final few days to Fuller!