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New Beginning
Paul reminds the church at Ephesus that "if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation. Old things are passed away and, hey, all things become new." We are about to begin a new year, at least as far as the Annual Conference is concerned. Nineteen of our churches will receive new pastors. Twenty-two pastors will go to new appointments.
Some pastors get into trouble when they move to a new church, then try to pastor the church they just left. In former days, Methodists liked to think that all UM congregations were alike, we now know that this belief is far from the truth. Each congregation is different. Sometimes a pastor's success or failure comes not because his congregation is either "good" or "bad." Rather, one's performance can be determined by a pastor's reaction to a specific congregation. To put it in other words, sometimes a pastor experiences frustration because he attempts to correct a condition that existed in a previous church. Consciously or unconsciously, we preachers may occasionally attempt to correct sins committed not by our current congregation, but by those we have previously served.
I hope that in this new conference year, both our pastors and our congregations might give each other the grace of a new beginning. Even where no move is taking place, I wonder whether our pastors and our laity can receive the grace to say to each other, "The past is past. Let's start over." Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he taught us to pray, "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us." Let our mutual forgiveness and respect be real as we seek to give one another a new beginning in Christ.
