An Unexpected Visit

I should make a full disclosure here: I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan.  I have read the books of the trilogy (plus The Hobbit) at least 4 times, and we own all 3 movies.  I tell you this because my title for today is "borrowed" from J.R.R. Tolkien, and because during my 1999 job search I felt a bit like Gandalf the Grey, zipping in and out of towns shrouded in mystery, not sure if I was being helpful or just being mischievous.  Very few of my friends at FUMC-K knew what I was up to.  Many of my readers have told me how unaware they were of all the turmoil in Kissimmee during the early months of the reign of The Pastor Who Shall Not Be Named (I know, I am mixing my metaphors- Voldemort just joined Gandalf in a Super Wizard combo pack!)  It makes me happy to know that the youth of FUMC-K (at that time) were not aware of what was going on.  Almost no one (sorry, Amber) knew I was looking for a new job.  We just all knew we missed Rev. John Willis terribly...

At some point in this process I was contacted by a UMC just outside of Charlotte, NC.  At the time it was one of the fastest growing churches anywhere, because it was located in an area of extreme, frenetic growth.  Houses and businesses were going up left and right within a few miles of the church.  The church had gone from 500 members to 3000 members in a few short years.  It sounded like an incredible opportunity for ministry.  I did two phone interviews with the pastor and the Search Committee and was very impressed.  They were as well.  They called back a few days later and wanted me to come up, meet the students and see if I felt God calling me back to NC.  After a few days praying about it, I told them no.

Why?  There were a couple of reasons.  Because of the amazing growth of the church, the facilities (worship space, parking, space for groups to meet in) were woefully inadequate.  They were going to spend at least the next 5 years building just to catch up.  There was going to be so much money and energy invested in those projects that it was unclear to me what would be "left over" for ministry.  I was afraid that student ministry, which is often way down the list of priorities when it comes to money, would actually get only the "left overs."  The second reason was more personal.  Marilyn and I were uncertain we wanted to go back home to NC at that point in time.  So we said no.

A few weeks later the pastor called me and asked me if I had any second thoughts.  By this time I was also involved in talks with the Union Church of Hinsdale near Chicago, and I told him I had moved on.  He asked for one more chance to change my mind.  A couple who worked with the youth (the wife had also been on the search committee) were at Walt Disney World on vacation.  He wanted to know if they could stop by and see me at my office that afternoon.  Completely caught off guard, I said yes.  They came by, and the situation was a bit awkward.  They actually met The Pastor Who Shall Not Be Named; I introduced them as friends from NC.  I have to admit listening to them almost made me change my mind.  They were very authentic and very persuasive.  I promised them I would pray about it some more, and I did.  But in the end, I still said no.  I was feeling more and more like God was calling me to Union Church.  But that's a story for next week.  Tomorrow get ready for some new Shout Outs- including information on how I might get sued!  See you then!

Because of Jesus,