Two Years Already?!

“In commitment and renewal to my covenant as a clergy person in The United Methodist Church, I now reverently and with joy, accept my appointment with a glad mind and will, and pray that I shall be worthy of my call to the ministry, my conference relationship, and the place of labor to which I have been appointed.”

This is the vow each clergy person takes at Annual Conference during the final ministry service after the Bishop announces the appointments for the year have been “fixed.” It’s a reminder that clergy are appointed on a year-to-year basis, even though the Cabinet tries to keep us in our appointments for lengthier periods than used to be the case.

As I write this, we just recently completed Annual Conference 2024, the appointments were fixed, and I have been reappointed to High Street UMC for 2024-25. By the time this comes out, we’ll have hit the 2-year anniversary of my time here, and will be heading into Year 3. It’s hard to believe how fast time flies.

Of course, this year things are a little different from last year. Pastor Mackenzie has graduated from seminary and – as we expected – has been sent to a new, full-time, appointment in Columbus, IN. She couldn’t remain in a student three-quarter time appointment following her graduation, and associate pastors are seldom left in appointments longer than 4 years. We wish her the best in this next chapter of her ministry career.

After much prayerful consideration, the SPRC and Finance Committees determined the best and most prudent course of action was to hire a half-time associate pastor. We are fortunate that Pastor Daryl Gilbert, who was an associate pastor here in 2012-2015 and retired from full-time ministry at this year’s Annual Conference, was interested in the position and will be joining us in August. However, a half-time pastor is not the same as a full-time pastor or even a three-quarter time student pastor.

Pastor Daryl’s focus will be on pastoral care, particularly with our homebound members and those in our assisted living facilities. He’ll also have some oversight responsibilities for our senior adult ministries and missions areas. Pastor Daryl will also help with some preaching and worship assistance.  

We are all called into ministry through our baptisms. High Street United Methodist Church isn’t about what the High Street staff and pastors are doing; it’s about what God and the members and constituents of High Street are doing. How High Street flourishes in the coming year and beyond will be up to each person within this congregation.

Financial stability continues to be a concern for our congregation. You are a generous group of people, and I give thanks daily for it. But it takes a lot of time, talent, and resources to keep our church and building running, as we all know. We’ve had some breathtaking gifts of generosity this year that have brought me to my knees in gratitude; and we’ve had some times when I’ve wondered if we would be able to pay our bills and payroll. I continue to lean on God’s providence as God reminds me time and time again that God will provide.

We’ve had a good second year of ministry together, and I look forward with joy to another fruitful year together.