Are We Ready? (Updated July 7)

I have just a precious few weekdays left and one more Sunday in the pulpit before sabbatical gets underway on July 14 (for all practical purposes, the transition will begin on Sunday afternoon).

So, after the better part of two years to think about this opportunity, am I ready? Honestly, I don't know. Beyond simple logistics, there are essential questions: am I doing the right things? Emphasizing the right concerns? Preparing in the right way? I don't think I'll be able to speak with authority to these questions until I am equipped with hindsight.

What about the church? For many months, the church secretary, as well as the Music and Christian Education departments (i.e. Vivian), have been incorporating into their work a sense of preparation for the absence of the regular pastor. A strong team of able liturgists has been trained, and each has had at least two Sundays of experience; so, while there still may be some nerves, there won't be any big surprises (it's amazing how well prepared you can be going up to the pulpit, and then, when you're there, you feel like Don Knotts in The Ghost and Mr. Chicken). The Session is ready; committees and their moderators are ready; my Sunday School class is arranging their schedule of discussion leaders... There will be neither a vaccuum of leadership nor an absence of order during those eight weeks (any more than there already is!), and there shouldn't be much, if anything, that falls through the cracks (any more than there already would be).

Of one thing we may be sure: I will not return from sabbatical the (second) greatest pastor who ever lived. I hope that is not too disappointing. What I do intend is to be better focused...more centered...somewhat rested...somewhat rejuvenated...better at listening...and, for lack of a better image, in love with God as if I had just returned from a second honeymoon ("You see me and my Creator / We got a funky love thang," noted the eminent theologian Todd Rundgren), or as close to God as if we were two old friends who had just stayed up all night in a diner in Indianapolis, drinking coffee, laughing hysterically, and occasionally sharing quiet reflections on the deeper things—he immeasurably, (literally) infinitely wiser than I, but mercifully tolerant of my occasional ramblings and knuckleheaded dreams. That's kind of the governing idea behind the preparations that have taken place since the 2007 Session took the brave, potentially controversial step toward making it happen (who on earth gets paid to go away, other than restaurant accordionists?).

I mean to be a good steward of this time, in both my use of Ministry Renewal Leave and in the preparations being made for my physical absence from the church. I welcome any and all responses—agreeing, disagreeing, questioning, or emphasizing—to this or any other blog I may post here.

Yours in Christ,
Keith