The Announcement (in case you missed it…..)
12 months, 10 days…. And a few hours. That’s how long it will be until October 5, 2025, my last Sunday, not only as your pastor, but as one serving in active local church ministry in the United Church of Christ. I’ll be retiring!
What a year it will be. We’ll get to mark it with the usual things: another Christmas, another Easter, more children’s sermons and sermons for everyone. We’re all going to be one year older by the time the big day comes around. Who knows where we will be in the unification discernment between Christ UMC and First Congregational UCC. We anticipate that the coming year will include much more conversation and experimenting.
Although it will most likely happen towards the end of that years’ time, we’ll be saying our goodbyes, remembering and celebrating what we’ve done together and sharing a bit of grace. I also anticipate that it will be a year for me to get used to the idea of not writing a weekly sermon. By the time October of 2025 rolls around, I will have preached over 1,500 sermons—which is quite a feat for someone who went to seminary intending not to preach at all! For someone who appreciates the importance of church meetings, there may be a bit of withdrawal from not attending monthly council meetings—I’ve participated in somewhere around 375 of those. If I attend any congregational meetings in the future, it will be as a church member and not the pastor. And books…. 32 years of ministry-related books will hopefully find new homes. Some of the hardest ones to pass along will be the classics that I’ve carried with me from seminary. I’ve accumulated communion sets from various General Synods over the years. I have some plans for those, as well as my collection of stoles, that I’ll tell you about later.
I know I don’t need to tell most of you about the odd sense of what it’s like to get ready to move out of an almost life-long vocation. Many of you have taken that journey up to and through retirement and have done it so well. I will look to you for inspiration! I’m finding that this is a season of seasons as we circle around the sun one more time together. I’m recognizing that the cycles of growth, life, harvest, and rest are very real.
New seeds are being planted: seeds of rest; seeds of seeking what to do with time and energy; seeds of strengthening relationships that, all too often, have taken a back seat to the demands of ministry. They are all being nurtured by love and prayers for what is to come. There are seeds that have been planted and have started to germinate and grow: some of the experiences and insights gained from my time in sabbatical and other times of sabbath are sending up shoots that give me energy to transition practices and knowledge on to others. There are seeds that are ripening for harvest: I now have a limited opportunity to preach, teach and lead! I’m becoming aware that there is yet more I’d like to share! And, there are seeds that are beginning to move into dormancy and rest, settling into the soil of my soul to nurture what will be next. Just like the seeds that quietly rest and transform in the depths of the winter soil, I am curious about what will spring forth after October 5, 2025.
As I take my own journey towards retirement, you will be taking your own towards calling and welcoming your next minister. It’s been my privilege to be among the thirty or so folks who have served this congregation as authorized ministers in settled, interim or student capacity. Right now, your next pastor is going about their day, perhaps not realizing what the future holds for them. I believe that God is already at work doing what needs to be done to prepare that person to come to Great Falls, meet you all, learn of your mission and passion and be stirred by the Holy Spirit to come alongside you in ministry. I’d ask that you keep this person in your prayers… even if you don’t know them by name, yet.
So, here we go! Off into this season of seasons, a year of firsts and lasts and waiting and wondering. May it all be blessed and filled with God’s grace. Have a wonderful week. Rev. Lynne
