Brave New World

Marilyn and I flew to Chicago in the autumn of 1999 to interview with the Union Church of Hinsdale.  We had no idea what to expect.  We knew very little about Chicago and almost nothing about Hinsdale.  We knew no one in the area.  David Knecht (pictured; he's on the right), the co-head of the Search Committee, was meeting at the airport- and we had no idea what he looked like.  It was all a great mystery.

David was there to meet us, and as we drove the 25 miles or so out to Hinsdale he talked excitedly about the weekend they had planned for us.  We were headed for the house of Mary and Tim McKenzie.  Mary was actually co-head of the committee with David, and her home would be the center of operations for the weekend.  Before heading there to meet the committee over lunch, we stopped in downtown Hinsdale to get our first look at the village and the church.  Both were like something out of a movie.  The church was large, old and majestic.  It was located just a block from downtown and across the street from the middle school.  Hinsdale was a beautiful little village.  My dear friend Pat Pribyl from Kissimmee had once lived in the area, and she would later tell me that "Hinsdale is what Celebration (the Disney planned community near Walt Disney World) wants to be when it grows up."  After a quick look around we were off to the McKenzie's home.

We knew right away that we were in a different world.  The house was not any larger than the rest of the homes we saw in the village- but it was HUGE.  As we were shown to our room we were amazed to discover the house had 9 bathrooms.  Nine.  We would later learn that the average price of a home in Hinsdale was $850,000.  We recovered from our initial shock and began a very long day of interaction and interviews.  I met with the committee all afternoon while someone took Marilyn around to see more of the community. 

The interview was the longest and most amazing I have ever experienced.  They questioned me about every experience I had ever had related to student ministry.  I had to recap my entire career.  I had to explain in great detail my philosophy of ministry.  I was tested on my knowledge of Purpose Drive Youth Ministry.  They wanted to hear all about The Pastor Who Shall Not Be Named and why I wanted to leave Kissimmee.  Every member of the committee had questions.  And then they began to talk about salary and benefits.  I was stunned.  They were offering more than double my FUMC-K salary and better benefits.  It was a huge job they wanted done, and they knew they needed someone with experience to do it- and they were willing to pay for it.  The power of my ego (thinking I was the only man for the job) and the money began a slow seduction of my soul; one that I would remain completely unaware of for quite some time.  For now, I just knew I really enjoyed this group of people.  By dinner time I was exhausted.  But not done.

That night the McKenzie's were hosting a party for Michael Surratt.  Michael was the church's longtime organist and hand bell director who had just spent a year on sabbatical.  A paid sabbatical.  I had been in youth ministry for over 20 years and no one had ever even mentioned a sabbatical.  The only sabbatical I had ever been a part of was sleeping on the floor in in the youth room at FUMC-K at our Radical Sabbaticals. At Union Church, Michael had taken one because it was required every 7 years!   And now they were welcoming him back with a party.  I was really growing to like this place.  At the party I met dozens of new people, and they all had questions as well.  I was getting the feeling that this church really cared about this Youth Pastor position.  And that was a great thing...

Tomorrow I will tell you more about David, Mary and the staff of Union Church.  I was about to be fooled by people who had no desire to fool me.  Sometimes we only see what we want to see...

Becasue of Jesus,