J.A.F.O.: July 2008

So in the adventure of posting snippets from my trip to North Carolina last week, I surpassed the "100" mark in blog entries. Specifically, this entry is #103. Wow! I have certainly learned a lot about myself, my friends, and my world by keeping "blog entry" in the back of my mind. Of course, I probably "should" have hit 100 months ago, but, like everyone else, I've hit dry spots along the way. One thing I can certainly be thankful for with this blog is the "blog family" that it is / I am a part of. For those of you outside this circle, the BF is a group of us that are all linked to each other through our blogs here in Atlanta. Some of my closest friends started out as hyperlinks from someone else's blog. In fact, I'm in the habit these days of almost dropping the "blog" from the "blog family" and simply referring to them as my "Atlanta" family. Funny how life turns like that.

Another life turn started a few weeks ago, took a sharp left on Sunday, and is currently quite muddled in its resolution.

I have been a member of my church for almost 8 years. I started out working with some friends on their Habitat project, and eventually decided that I felt comfortable and called to become a member of this particular congregation. Over the years, a great portion of my life has been shaped by events at this church. I became a Youth advisor, which led to being a chaperon on their annual trips, which led to my large-group cooking adventures. I served as an elder, committee chair, and committee member. I was part of the search committee for a new Youth Pastor. Several times, I considered myself to be part of the inner church leadership. I met many great people, found great friends, and found out just how small my world is.

During the reign of "The Evil Empire", I fell away from my church. The Ex-Girlfriend was terrified that my friendships with people at my church might take my focus away from her. And she had other issues...with my church, too. Anyway, for about 8 months I was absent in all form from anything related to my church. One of the most fulfilling events after the breakup was returning to the congregation. I quickly (I thought) jumped back into my old role, even taking on a new role as part of a planning team for an evening contemporary worship service.

Here's where the turns started. A few weeks ago, I began to realize that I no longer have a peer group at my church. The few folks that are close to my age are married with kids, and focused on their families. Everyone else that had been part of that group has long since moved away or found other congregations to be a part of. And the age gap between me and the Youth has finally reached a point where I don't have a connection with them (heck, I'm the same age as some of their fathers!). On top of it all, I can not think of a single person in the congregation with whom I have any sort of friendship or connection outside of the church. All of this led me to start thinking about my role at this church, and whether or not I should think about moving to another church.

We've had some turmoil in the church staff lately which has not helped my thoughts and opinions. Unfortunately, some of the turmoil became personal with some of the folks, and they felt it necessary to, instead of exiting quietly, drag the remaining staff and leadership through the mud on their way out. It hasn't made thing easy. Especially since our Senior Pastor has been on sabbatical since May and not due back until mid-August.

While in NC last week, I came to the point that I would let things ride until the Pastor returned in August, following which I would plan to sit down with him and lay out what I just did above, hoping he might offer me some guidance or insight.

And then Sunday came. About 2:00 in the afternoon, I received my copy of a mass e-mail to the congregation from the Pastor. At first, I thought it might be a letter of healing to address the recent turmoil and ensure that we were still moving forward. Nope. This e-mail was instead his letter of resignation, announcing his intent to step down two weeks after he returns from sabbatical in order to answer a call at another church outside the metro area.

Wham!

Sunday evening, I went to a "board game" party with some friends. The host of the party is actually the Minister of Education (and unofficial Associate Pastor) at another church. A church where a majority of my friends and acquaintances are members. He and I started talking - he wanted to tap my brain about my experiences with the contemporary service and how it might help them as they think about starting their own contemporary service. Hrrmmm. Maybe this is the "sign" from above? Maybe it truly is time to move to another congregation, and this new contemporary service might just be the perfect platform for me to switch to a new church - one that I already have connections with - and jump right into service and leadership. It certainly does offer another element to my thoughts and opinions.

Just to be sure, I've sent off notes to my current Senior Pastor and the Youth Director expressing my concerns. I also plan to visit this new church in the next few weeks. Hopefully, between the anticipated replies from my current church, and the reaction at this new church, I might be able to discern a direction for my faith.