So it has been a long time since I have made the time to sit down and write. I hate to say it, but I have been too busy. I am not that guy though, I am not busy. I like to think I am good enough at time management that I don't get to that point. I did.
In the last few months I have tried out for and accepted an offer for a new job, did all the summer youth ministry stuff in IL while preparing to do all the new preaching ministry stuff in NE, sold, trashed, or packed and moved everything I own into a house we located and purchased, and did all the little annoying things you have to do when you move. I think things are settling down though. I AM writing this about 15 minutes after I am supposed to be home, and that IS only because the old-lady-visit I had planned fell through... but it is slowing down.
So after 7-8ish years in youth ministry, I have made the rough transition into an area for which I am sorely lacking education and experience - the role of the senior minister. I feel confident that I have the ability to do this job well and the passion to do this ministry well, but I also have the ability to encounter many a misadventure along the way.
For quite I while I had considered what I would do if I were to become a senior minister, yet when the opportunity presented itself, most of those things flew out the window. I was worried about starting off right and setting the right tone until I realized that I want to be here for years and years and my first Sunday will be fairly irrelevant in reference to the body of work.
A church is a living organism and they are all different and constantly changing - even if they are fighting tooth and nail to avoid it. The church gets older or younger and bigger or smaller and more or less effective every week. I am starting to think that the key is to start making those changes on purpose, start making them take on a pattern of growth, and to start building momentum. Now to just figure out how...
