Visiting Pastor

Preaching is a gift. It may be a bit like that itchy sweater you get from grandma that you have to wear in the Christmas picture then gets accidentally lost or shrunk or dropped into a fire. Nevertheless it is still a gift.

It was given to me this past weekend at St. Peters Lutheran church in Denver, Iowa. St. Peters is the church Kimbra attended as a child. We search for her confirmation picture on the wall every time we visit. I enjoy tracing the hairstyles back through the decades.

In our visits, I have been blessed by the liturgy of the Lutheran church. For some it becomes rote or mechanical. But much like systematic theology, it frames the experience of faith. It reminds me that we continue the journey of many who walked this path before us. They, like us, may have taken wrong turns but they still moved us forward.

The best part of preaching is that it awakens the pastor in me. The worst part is that it stops short. I am again reminded that preaching alone will not bring growth. It takes a faith community. It takes a church.

I enjoyed preaching more than I thought. I enjoyed a medium-sized church more than I thought. I have always placed myself in a large church as one of many pastors. But the thought leading a small or medium community would not be a waste of these next years.

One thing is clear. I am a young pastor. I have come a long way from my first sermon (which you will not find on my website) and I still have a long way to go.