He’s here
Posted in Religion by RB on January 29th, 2008 About a year ago we had our first meeting. Eleven of us (only ten finished the task) met in the Commons for the first time to face the task to which we had been elected - find the replacement for the man who founded our church ten years ago. It was a strange and daunting task. John left on great terms (he didn’t officially step down for another six months) and without another specific calling; the time was just right. And we had no clue how what the search process would look like or how to go about it. We were barely even able to pick a chairman.
Somehow we managed to find the right man. And while the average search time in our denomination is nearly 18 months, Ewan was officially installed this past Sunday. It was an amazing service. Our founding pastor presided, as did our former associate pastor. One of Ewan’s mentors spoke, and his best friend gave a short homily. But Shari (John’s wife) told us what we really needed to hear, and she used the words from Adam and Eve - leave and cleave. It’s time for us to stop looking to John for leadership and to instead look to Ewan.
I had the mixed blessing of getting to spend about 40 out of the last 52 Tuesday nights, plus several weekends, finding and picking Ewan, and it’s a tough challenge for me. John has personally meant so much to so many people that it’s going to be very hard for some of us to look away from him and to the new guy. But what we all need to remember is that ultimately the church isn’t about the pastor; it’s about Christ and his people. And that’s why there’s a lot that I admire about the Methodists; the constant rotation of pastors as chosen by some outside body serves as a constant reminder.
It’s going to take a while for Ewan and family to settle in, but he’s definitely already in charge. When he started preaching a couple of weeks ago, he owned the pulplit; it was as if he had preached from in for years. Here’s hoping that he’s around for many, many more.
