so, this weekend was my last one before starting as the pastor of my new church. I thought about forty times about whether I should go to church there, or take the morning off, or go somewhere else. In most cases, a pastoral move is made during the middle of the week and you start immediately, so this whole, waiting around for my job to start thing doesn’t happen. <\/p>\n

I decided to wait and not go yet precisely for that reason… well, that and my family was in town and so we had Christmas again this weekend. <\/p>\n

It is completely surreal to think that in just a day or two I will start my new vocation. I feel completely prepared and absolutely unprepared all at the same time. I have worship planned for the first two Sundays already – with the exception of the sermons, so that takes a little bit of the work load off. eek – which reminds me that I need to contact the organist and get her the music. <\/p>\n

My mom tried to offer me a plate of goodies to take into work with me and share with other people. But I realized… I’m the only one working there! I’m not sure who, if anyone will be in and out of the church. I have set office hours for talking and counseling with people, so I’m sure I might see people then, but other than that – no clue. It might just be me in my little office. Which in many ways means that I need a community online to keep me sane once and a while =) I’m already making connections with a UMC pastors group in a nearby city, and hopefully will connect with the local ministers in the coming weeks. There is also a city administrator’s “coffee with the community” thing on Thursday morning that I’m planning on going to. As long as I keep my connections with other people strong, I should be fine and will probably cherish the time alone to think. <\/p>\n

Right now, I’m planning on spending my afternoons at home working and\/or visiting(except for the days when I have evening meetings, and then i’m taking the afternoon off). It will be a good time to work on my sermons, catch up on reading, etc. That way I really can focus the mornings on being there for whomever stops by and won’t feel as if my work has been interrupted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

so, this weekend was my last one before starting as the pastor of my new church. I thought about forty times about whether I should go to church there, or take the morning off, or go somewhere else. In most cases, a pastoral move is made during the middle of the week and you start…<\/span><\/p>\n

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