The value of friendships with fellow ministers.

As of this June I will have been ministering here in Franklin at First Baptist for 6 1/2 years.  Aside from the usual comments about how quickly the time has flown, after all Clara is now 3 and she didn't come with us from Michigan, comes an important question: What has made my time serving here effective, and what has made it enjoyable?  To be able to say that it has been both is a blessing from God, I know that many of my fellow ministers would be happy with one of the two as they toil in the field of the Lord.  Much of the credit beyond that given to God, the obvious first choice, and my congregation (both those who were here when I arrived and those who have joined us since then), lies with the fellow ministers that I have had the privilege of working with here in Franklin and Venango County.

When I arrived 6 1/2 years ago I was the new guy, and even though I was in my mid 30's, the "young" guy.  As I was working to understand what my priorities needed to be here at this church, I was approached by Pastor Jeff Little from First United Methodist, the church literally across the street (we share an intersection).  I don't remember that first interaction all that vividly, but from that point moving forward, Jeff has been my (and my wife's) best friend here in Franklin, and a partner in many a ministry endeavor.  The local ministerium, which meets at Christ UMC (half a block away) was also an opportunity to be a part of something I had never experienced before, a regular gathering of ministers.  At my previous pastorate in Palo, MI there were only two churches in town and both myself and the Methodist minister were bi-vocational; attending ministerial meetings, even if there had been any locally to join, would have been impossible.  Here in Franklin, by contrast, there were about ten ministers who met each month to not only discuss common ministry efforts (food pantry, Good Friday crosswalk, a Central Help Fund), which alone is an amazing thing to have as an asset, but also to simply spend a morning each month in each other's company.  At those monthly meetings we began to build not only trust and a cooperative spirit, but also friendships. 

Of what value is it to know that as a minister you are but one of God's workers in this field, and that the others who labor alongside you are not your rivals but your friends?  It is of immense value, beyond calculation. 

Of the group that I joined back in 2012, sadly this July I will be the last regular attendee to remain.  Mother Holly (St. John's Episcopal), who befriended my wife and thus earned much credit in my book, but who also had a tremendous heart for the poor, left a few years ago to a new opportunity in AZ.  Pastor Scott Woodlee, the intellectual of our group, and a whiz with ancient languages, left for a new opportunity near Pittsburgh.  This month Pastor Jim Leichliter (our longest serving member) is retiring from the First Church of God.  At the end of June, both Pastor David Janz (2nd longest serving member, Christ UMC, and a man I consider to have been a mentor to me here) and my friend Pastor Jeff Little are being transferred to a new charge (UMC pastors are itinerant, they are moved roughly every seven years). 

When the ministerium reconvenes after our summer hiatus in September, the faces around the table will be entirely new since I arrived.  Because the Franklin area churches have a long history of ecumenical service and worship, I fully expect our collective efforts to carry on as before, but even as I attempt to forge new friendships around that table it will be fairly stunning to have gone from being the new guy to being the old guy in under seven years. 

Of what value are the men and women to me who gather together as the Franklin ministerium?  Priceless.  To those who minister in a community without an effective ministerium, I say this: Find one, create one, do what you need to do to forge relationships with those who like you serve the Church of Jesus Christ in your community.  It may not be easy, and you'll never get everyone to participate, but it'll be worth it; over and over again, it'll be worth it.