from the Minister & President Elect
It's a time of preparation
August/September 2006
 It’s a time of preparation
I first came across the word “interstice” in the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It refers to an in-between time – a short space of time between events. Far from being a vacuum or a time of boredom, the interstice is the time we take to process where we have been, and to anticipate what might lie ahead.
Following our Spirit-filled Annual Meeting (may I say “our”), my soul is overflowing with gratitude (which I’ll get to in a moment) and I am immersed in the complex emotions that come from living in an in-between time. On a personal level, I’m wrapping up my service to Plymouth Church here in Ohio and ramping up to join you in Massachusetts. We’re packing up our home as I prepare to relocate to the parsonage on the Conference Center grounds in Framingham. I’m saying goodbye to friends and parishioners who have sustained us in loving relationships, and I’m flooded with joy (and a few emails too!) as I anticipate rejoining scores of old friends from my years in Massachusetts. And I’m savoring time with my family, recognizing that living apart during the coming year (while my son finishes high school in Ohio) will be most challenging.
There’s a bigger sense of in-between-ness that I’m aware of – one that involves us all. All over the Conference throughout the fall we will all be listening to God and to one another as we gather in various settings to reflect on our common calling and the gifts God has given us to pursue that calling. It will be a time of discernment for what is to come – an in-between time during which we help each other to become more and more open to the work of Spirit within us, between us and among us.
I see this as a time of preparation. As I suggested in my sermon at the Annual Meeting, I believe God is asking of us something great. This listening process will provide us with an understanding of that calling and prepare us to undertake it.
But our work is not limited to listening. As I’m learning every day, your Conference leaders and staff are constantly coming up with imaginative initiatives to enhance the vitality of our life together. I find that I have to go to www.macucc.org several times a week to keep up with it! And once I’m settled in Massachusetts, I’ll have a lot to learn from all of you about the ministries you are leading.
While this in- between time has its challenges, for me it is also infused with gratitude. Words cannot express the gratitude I have felt for the presence of the Spirit, first with the Search Committee, then with the Board of Directors, and finally with the staff and the delegates to the Annual Meeting. Throughout this process I have sought to be transparent and honest, and you have responded with encouragement and enthusiasm. As we look to the fall, let us pray that our still speaking God will give us the inspiration and guidance we need to advance the mission God has given to the United Church of Christ throughout the Commonwealth.
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