As I wander through the airport for taking off for London, trying to keep moving for the long enforced the overnight flight, I suddenly realized: no bookstores. I saw one small newsstand with maybe a couple of dozen books, a … Continue reading No More Bookstores
Three weeks ago I retired as active clergywoman in The United Methodist Church. Does that make me un-active clergy? I’ll say this, I am certainly active for being non-active. Earlier today, I learned that I will take 4300 steps if I walk to a recycling center and then head in the opposite direction to a dollar-type store to pick up an incidental (today, a forgotten cleaning supply). Part of my reason for wanting to move to the downtown Denton area was to see how much more walking and how much less driving I could do by frequenting as much as … Continue reading Twenty Days Post Retirement: The Walking Life
Although technically, my retirement doesn’t take place until tonight at midnight, for all effective purposes, I retired Sunday at 12 noon. I had picked this last Sunday of the year to say goodbye because it is normally a very low attendance Sunday and I figured I could be in worship with my congregation and then quietly slip out. For several years now, we have set the worship space in tables this day, invited people to bring food, enjoyed brunch together, prayed the Wesleyan Covenant Service together and shared Holy Communion around the tables. Since I feel strongly the life of … Continue reading A Re-thought Life
“My bags are packed, I’m ready to go . . . ” and thus starts one of my favorite songs from my younger days, Leaving on a Jet Plane. Yes, my bags are packed. In fact, essentially my whole life is packed, and safely stored for the time being. No jet plane, but indeed, “O babe, I hate to go.” For months now, I’ve been preparing for this goodbye with my retirement, official on Dec. 31,2013. I search for words to describe what my seven and a half years have been as pastor of the Krum United Methodist Church. I finally land here: … Continue reading The Long Goodbye
Although it is technically one month and one day until the formal retirement, my handy-dandy retirement calculator app tells me that I have twenty-seven work days left. And it is really far less as I will be taking off the … Continue reading One Month, One Day: The Ongoing Book Dilemma
At the height of their summer glory, the elephant ears gracing the front of the parsonage where I live looked like this: After the unusually early and quite hard frost we experienced here on Nov. 12, I found this one … Continue reading Four Months, Six Days: The Handoff and the Resurrection
Tuesday afternoon a church member and good friend stopped by to see me, walked into my office, looked around and burst into tears. My first thought, “Something really bad has happened.” And then she said, “The reality just hit. You are leaving.” I had packed up many of my books over the weekend. Normally stuffed-full shelves sat, mostly denuded and dusted, waiting for the next set of books to fill them. Family photos all packed as well. The time pressure has hit. In a month, the movers pick up and store all my belongings so the parsonage can be cleaned … Continue reading One Month, Seventeen Days: Books and Questions
I suppose this is true across all professions when retirement looms and perspective on what is necessary changes, but I admit it for myself here: for the first time since I’ve been a solo/senior pastor, I am not terribly concerned with Charge Conference reports. Our Charge Conference is next Tuesday. Now, the church administrator and I sat down several weeks ago and walked through who needed to do what. He had responsibility for all reports that don’t have to be generated by me. I presume they will all be done on time. But I’m not hovering or checking this year. … Continue reading Two Months, Five Days: Charge Conference Reports
The Election Conundrum I could not vote for Barack Obama for President of the United States. I am a fiscal conservative. I want a more balanced budget. After listening carefully to President Obama’s State of the Union Message in 2012, I realized I was unable to support him, as much as I do respect him as a person. I could not vote for Mitt Romney for President of the United States. I am a person who feels strongly that the government needs to be working in awareness of the giant underclass that our economic policies have helped create. To have … Continue reading The Pastor and Politics: the Particularly Puzzling Puddle
The Question A dear friend and fellow clergywoman sat across the table from me and watched compassionately when I burst yet again into inconsolable tears. She asked, “Who has been your pastor through this awful time?” Now there’s fascinating question for a pastor to hear. And what has been so awful, after all? This friend mentioned this blog. “Christy, how would people know what kind of pain you are in? Your writings sound coherent, and people are enjoying the retirement journal. Your other posts reflect your expansive study and ability to connect things that many can’t see. You speak of … Continue reading Two Months, Seventeen Days: The Pain Behind the Decision
