2 Timothy 4:1-2 - In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.
I’ve had three conversations since I started with St. Paul in March that gave me pause. Two of the conversations happened with people from St. Paul. One of the conversations happened in the last couple weeks with a friend from Chehalis. All of the conversations were about the role and long-term responsibility of an interim pastor.
Here at St. Paul the conversations were about how we make plans as a congregation when we don’t know how long Pastor Matt is going to be here. The conversation with the friend in Chehalis made the statement - an interim shouldn’t make any changes because the new pastor will just change them again.
Interim time in a congregation is never a favorable time. There is much uncertainty about the future. We don’t know how long this season is going to last. We don’t know who our next pastor will be. And who is this guy who swoops into Castle Rock from up north and will be gone as soon as we call our next pastor?
The temptation is to hold fast for the next chapter. To treat the interim time as a holding pattern for what comes next. Let’s preserve what we have and then we’ll have something to offer to our new pastor.
A wise mentor once told me that all pastors, whether called or interim, are temporary. At some point the pastor will leave or die. As a pastor, our congregations we serve often predate us and hopefully will exist long after we leave. In a way, every pastor is an interim.
What that means is that we as The Church have work to do. In this interim time, we continue to convince, rebuke, and encourage. If you see this time as favorable or unfavorable the work of this congregation has importance in our community.
My prayer is that as we enter into fall, we continue to look for ways to grow as a congregation. I pray that we make plans into an uncertain future because we never really do know what the future holds, no matter who fills the office of pastor in this place.
Ultimately, St. Paul Lutheran Church is not defined by the holder of the pastoral office but by the ministry, teaching, service, and presence in the community. As a congregation we will continue to seek our call to ministry to our community.
