Sacred space
"Maybe you had to leave in order to miss a place; maybe you had to travel to figure out how beloved your starting point was."-- Jodi Picoult
Yesterday, I returned to a congregation I pastored fifteen to twenty or so years ago. I retired from serving another congregation this past June, and when my earlier church received the news, they invited my family and me to return to celebrate my retirement. My entire family came—children, sons-in-law, and grandchildren. My wife and I were so thrilled everyone could be there. We worshiped with people we hadn’t seen in years and with new faces who connected with the church after we left. It felt good to stand in a familiar pulpit in a familiar sanctuary. Afterward, the church hosted a reception for us in the Fellowship Hall. It was good to reconnect with some great and faithful saints.
The rest of the post can be read on my blog here.