Well, today is my last day as Minister for ARK Community Church. In a few minutes, I will hop in my truck for the long drive out there for my last service as their minister. (It will actually be a potluck brunch of some sort, I’m told!)
I’ve been told to not prepare anything for the service, and that’s all I know. Although, just to be safe, I’ve prepared a couple of points to speak about – if the right moment arises.
Mixed emotions: I’m sad to leave, and I know many there are sad to see me go, but it was time to move on – for them and for me.
I love them all and will miss them. I suspect it will be an emotionally draining morning, but also a time of celebration of all the goodness that has happened in our time together: a time of sharing stories about our experiences and achievements; of recalling how far we’ve come and how much we’ve grown in the last three years. And so, I’m looking forward to it.
My son will be with me today. He is still very young; but I am glad that he is again at my side for this major event in my life – both of our lives, actually. It is not the first such, nor will it be the last, in the years and decades to come.
So it’s interesting – I’m not sure what they’re planning for me. It’s an unknown, just as my journey (and theirs) after our parting is also an unknown.
What will they do after I leave? I don’t know, although I know they have been diligently working on answering that exact question ever since I announced my resignation in January.
Will I minister again somewhere else? I don’t know the answer to that, either. I hope so, but not this year for sure – aside from perhaps “Pulpit Supply” on occasion: much too much on my plate in other areas of my life!
So, the journey continues, for myself, for my family, and for a wonderful little church in the Berkshires and its people, all of whom I love.
The journey is a good one: always has been, and always will be.
Go in Peace.
– Allen
The Here and the Hereafter 