It's Now Official!

Last week I was delighted to learn that both the Search Committee and the Governing Board had officially designated me as the Candidate for the open pulpit at the First Parish in Portland Maine. Monday night I notified the Parish Committee here in Carlisle of my decision to accept that invitation, and this morning we formally shared the news with the entire congregation.

Naturally, I am very excited about this next chapter in my eclectic ministerial career. Portland is a magnificant small city, and I am so looking forward to once more living within sight, sound and smell of the ocean...despite its reputation, Walden Pond simply wasn't getting it done for me. Judging at least from the number of applicants, First Parish was the most sought-after pulpit in the denomination this past year, which leaves me feeling both honored to have been selected in preference to so many other wise and talented colleagues, and also humbled by the demanding challenges and expectations I know await me there.

I also feel a little sad about leaving my ministry in Carlisle, just as I felt like my efforts here were finally beginning to bear fruit. I'm particularly disappointed that I will not be around to celebrate this congregation's 250th anniversary next summer, or to help explore and implement the many exciting new inititives we identified at our all-church "Visioning" retreat last February. I was also looking forward to a five month sabbatical in the spring of 2009, and there were even rumours of an impending kitchen remodel at the parsonage. It's hard to walk away from all that, even to move on to something that feels even better.

The lives and work of parish ministers are often wrapped in moments of transition. The transition from single individual to couple represented by a wedding, or from couple to family when a child is dedicated. And, of course, the ultimate transition from life to death. Every year more new people join the congregation, while others step back, or move on to other places, other priorities. Like the communities we serve, ministry is ultimately little more than a network of constantly evolving relationships: a long series of joyful hellos and sad goodbyes, each one a small birth, or a little death. This transition is no different. It just seems a little more intense, because it means saying so many goodbyes all at once.

There are lots of things I am going to miss about Carlisle, just as I have missed some things about every congregation I have ever served. Mostly, though, I’m going to miss the many friends I have made in this community, and our vision of the revitalized church I believe we would have created together had we simply continued to dream big dreams and to embrace our shared sense of mission, then rolled up our sleeves and done the good, hard work of generous hospitality and selfless service I’ve seen so often here. Yet I also know that if these dreams are indeed destined to become true, they truly need to be THEIR dreams, and that they are perfectly capable of achieving them without me.

I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend the past four years serving as the minister here at FRS -- longer than my "restless soul" has ever allowed me to settle anywhere else before. And I hope in the few months I have remaining in this role, to be able to take the time to celebrate the important and necessary work we have undertaken together during my tenure here, and to say our fond farewells before diverging on the separate paths before us.