Our last Sunday, Feb. 19th finally arrived. I say "our" because not only was I signing off as the pastor at Trinity but Cindy would no longer be worshipping there or be the choir even though she will be in town for a while. So it was "our" farewell.
The last worship service was wonderful. The sanctuary was full. I think some were there to make sure I was finally going. :) We sang some great hymns. Our Sunday School children sang "The Butterfly Song" and there were smiles all around. I was so proud of those kids. The Odegaard family deserve a great deal of thanks for their Sunday School ministry. The Senior Choir also sang.
In my last post I mentioned a song called "A Closing Prayer" by Don Besig. Well I bought copies of that song for the choir so they could sing it at that worship service.
I preached on the text Proverbs 3:5-6 about "Trusting in the Lord with all your heart...". All of us are walking in faith. Trinity LC members need to trust that God will provide them with a great pastor - someone who will love them and challenge them and lead them. The members of my new congregation must also trust that God has been leading this process and that they wouldn't get a dud. Cindy & I feel that it was God who opened this door and we are walking through it. So all of us walk in faith.
At the end of our worship together there was a formal liturgy entitles "At the End of a Ministry" that we used. I thought it was great. Once completed the choir sang "A Closing Prayer" and we were finished.
From there we went to our Fellowship Hall for a great potluck lunch. Wow! There was so much food and the place was packed. We ate, we talked, there were a few gifts, a few songs and then hugs and handshakes.
What a morning. I helped with a few other tasks then turned in my keys and Cindy & I walked out the doors.
I felt good. I wasn't overwhelmed with emotion which I thought I would be. It had been a good ministry all-in-all with great people but I wasn't through yet. There was more adventure to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment