On My Mind...
It was great being back home yesterday! We really enjoyed our vacation but there’s nothing like being with family in worship. A week away seemed like a month. It seems like summer just began but in just a few weeks, students will be heading back to school, and summer will be over. I’m ready for the heat to be over but summer could go a little longer. Summer concluding also means a new church year is on the horizon. Pray for our nominating committee as they strive to finish their work of filling committees and getting officers in place by the 1st of September. Also, continue to pray for our music search committee as they prayerfully work on their recommendation for our next minister of music. I appreciate both committees and I’m grateful for their faithful service to our church family. Don’t forget, our quarterly business meeting is this Wednesday, July 17, at 6:30 pm in the Fellowship Building. I hope you will join us.
As you know, I have served for quite some time as a law enforcement chaplain. For 25 years I’ve served as a chaplain with the Tulsa Police Department and for the last several years have been the sector chief for the back up sector. That means I’ve been responsible for overseeing 4-5 chaplains, setting up the rotation schedule and serving on the leadership team. I also served with the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office for 5 years. I notified the senior chaplain with the Department and told him it was time for him to find my replacement. I do not want to put him or the Department in a bind so, I did not put a time limit on my retirement from chaplaincy. I’ve enjoyed my 30 years of service but getting called out at 2:00 am and being out until 4:30 or 5:00 am and then coming into work, is not as easy now that I’m 64! So, sometime soon I will be ending that chapter. I have agreed to stay involved to help with training and other things, as needed, but I will not be handling calls.
As I’ve been working through that decision, I’ve also been reflecting on my service to the church. It hit me sometime during the last week, I’ve spent more than half my life as pastor of Trinity. I could not have imagined when I began in July of 1991 that I would still be here today. Just before we left on vacation, I had my last visit with Tona. As I sat in her hospice room holding her hand, I thought about how many other times I had done that very thing. My mind was flooded with faces of saints gone home. I prayed that I had been some comfort and encouragement in their final moments. 33 years of marrying, burying, caring for those in need, comforting the hurting, preaching, teaching and leading. I hope and pray that I’ve done some of it well. I pray that I’ve help you grow spiritually. I hope that I’ve been some comfort and encouragement to you along the way. I pray that I’ve not been an embarrassment for you and that I’ve represented you well within the community. This is not the lead up to an announcement (sorry if I got your hopes up), this is just an old man reflecting. My commitment is to keep my hands on the plow and press on. My commitment is to study, pray and give my all to serve you well. I would appreciate your payers as I seek to serve Christ, by serving you.
I’ll see you Sunday.
Rod
As you know, I have served for quite some time as a law enforcement chaplain. For 25 years I’ve served as a chaplain with the Tulsa Police Department and for the last several years have been the sector chief for the back up sector. That means I’ve been responsible for overseeing 4-5 chaplains, setting up the rotation schedule and serving on the leadership team. I also served with the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office for 5 years. I notified the senior chaplain with the Department and told him it was time for him to find my replacement. I do not want to put him or the Department in a bind so, I did not put a time limit on my retirement from chaplaincy. I’ve enjoyed my 30 years of service but getting called out at 2:00 am and being out until 4:30 or 5:00 am and then coming into work, is not as easy now that I’m 64! So, sometime soon I will be ending that chapter. I have agreed to stay involved to help with training and other things, as needed, but I will not be handling calls.
As I’ve been working through that decision, I’ve also been reflecting on my service to the church. It hit me sometime during the last week, I’ve spent more than half my life as pastor of Trinity. I could not have imagined when I began in July of 1991 that I would still be here today. Just before we left on vacation, I had my last visit with Tona. As I sat in her hospice room holding her hand, I thought about how many other times I had done that very thing. My mind was flooded with faces of saints gone home. I prayed that I had been some comfort and encouragement in their final moments. 33 years of marrying, burying, caring for those in need, comforting the hurting, preaching, teaching and leading. I hope and pray that I’ve done some of it well. I pray that I’ve help you grow spiritually. I hope that I’ve been some comfort and encouragement to you along the way. I pray that I’ve not been an embarrassment for you and that I’ve represented you well within the community. This is not the lead up to an announcement (sorry if I got your hopes up), this is just an old man reflecting. My commitment is to keep my hands on the plow and press on. My commitment is to study, pray and give my all to serve you well. I would appreciate your payers as I seek to serve Christ, by serving you.
I’ll see you Sunday.
Rod