Corn, Sprout, Stalk, Ear

I have been reminded that my ministry has mainly been one of uprooting and tearing down. Apparently, I've done an excellent job. The church is a small but vibrant community poised for good things. I have never felt it was my job to grow the church physically, but to build it spiritually. In fact, I'm not interested in church growth. I truly think that Jon, the new pastor, has the gifts for growing a church. I think there's an excellent foundation for the next season to build upon. And even though the foundation is underground, never seen and often taken for granted, I am at peace knowing that we helped establish it and that whatever follows requires it.

Even though Lisa and I didn't go to church yesterday, our kids did. They felt fine. People, including the new pastors, assume that once the church goes through this transition we'll return to resume a place in the community. That may be. For now we are staying away so as not to complicate the transition. Including us, there are 3 sets of pastors who call Rothesay Vineyard their community. We are all okay with this. But we are definitely going to preserve and nurture our friendships within the community and with the new pastors. That's agreed. And we are joyfully anticipating hearing about the new things that Rothesay Vineyard is going into without a trace of jealousy. A seed of corn does not look anything like a sprout. And a sprout looks nothing like a stalk of corn. And an ear of corn looks nothing like the stalk. But even though they look remarkably different, they are all still corn. Rothesay Vineyard, I fully expect, will look very different very soon.

And this brings me joy.