Meanwhile, back in 1999...

In the midst of all of the madness of the unending e-mails, phone calls and interviews as I sought to escape The Pastor Who Shall Not Be Named, I was contacted by the Union Church of Hinsdale (pictured).  After a phone interview with several members of their Search Committee I was very intrigued.  The head of the committee was a man named David Knecht, and he seemed to know his stuff.  He had spoken with members of the Youth Specialties staff seeking to get a handle on what they should look for in a Youth Pastor.  He had the entire committee reading Doug Field's excellent book Purpose Driven Youth Ministry (which had been a huge influence on the past few years of my own ministry) to get a feel for what a student ministry could look like at Union Church.  He sent me a questionnaire to complete.  It was very thorough, asking about my philosophy of ministry, my beliefs and my leadership style.  They wanted to know what books I had been reading and what other ministries I felt I could contribute to.  It presented me with scenarios and asked me how I would respond in certain situations.  I was impressed.

Union Church was a large church in Hinsdale, a very wealthy western suburb of Chicago.  Very wealthy.  It seemed to me it was a church with the desire and the resources to really reach youth in the name of Jesus.  A youth program had been in place for many years, and in the 1960's and 70's it had been quite vibrant.  It had dropped of dramatically over the years, and they were looking to go a new direction.  They need someone who could jump start things.  They thought I might be their man.  My ego told me the same thing... 

There were (in the beginning) only two major obstacles I could see.  One, this place was in Chicago.  It was hours away from my family, from Marilyn's family and from our friends.  It was a long ride to Walt Disney World and Myrtle Beach.  We would be facing this without any of the people and things we knew and loved.  Secondly, I knew almost nothing about the United Church of Christ, the denomination that Union Church was connected to.  At first I had thought they were Church of Christ, which meant no music in worship, and I would have never considered that.  I discovered that to be wrong, but I knew little else.  I began to research and found that the UCC was (in my mind, anyway) a cross between the Quakers and the Methodists I had been serving (more on that in a future post).  Marilyn and I decided that I should at least accept their offer to fly us up for an interview. 

Before flying to Chicago, I went into the office of The Pastor Who Shall Not Be Named and tried to speak with him about what was going on at FUMC-K.  I told him how much I loved that church and how much I loved the students I served there, the Youth Ministry Team we had put together, and the staff I worked beside.  I told him I wanted to stay, but I needed to know some things were open for discussion, like returning to a more contemporary worship style and a freedom to do ministry the way we had been doing it before he arrived.  I was promised nothing.  He might as well have said, "Bon Voyage, Carl!"  I was headed to Hinsdale.  Tomorrow I will tell you the story of the never-ending interview, and the beginning of a seduction.  Don't miss it!

Because of Jesus,