Pastor's Corner

Editor's Note (From Mee To You)

As I searched for words to share with you this month, the following article by Kae Tritle came to mind, and I'm delighted to feature it. Kae, our Conference's Well-Being Coordinator, regularly shares her "health-full" insights for our bodies and souls on the Conference Website. If anyone wishes to read more about the transition process in the midst of change, please check it out from here: 

I pray her words offer you insightful reflection as we transition into the season of new beginning.

Transitions: Turning Endings into Beginnings - Kae Tritle, RN Well-Being Coordinator

Summer is a time of transitions; “a passage from one place or stage to another” that includes the ending of one stage and the beginning of the next stage. The endings come in the form of graduations-from high school, college, and grad school; retirements or the ending of school and church programming, moving from one grade to the next.

Beginnings often come in the form of weddings, new jobs, relocations, and/or entering a different phase of life. Both our UM clergy and churches are experiencing transition with appointment changes as pastors move and/or retire.

William Bridges, in Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes, views the whole of our life as a cycle of transition: a series of endings, followed by a time of uncertainty, leading to a new beginning. The following explains his process.

Transition always begins with an ending; the closing of a chapter in one’s life, whether that change is in a job or vocation, education, relationships, health, marital status, the location of your home, or your inner self-image. Endings are the clearing process that prepares you for personal growth and development. Endings are also the first part of the natural pattern of dying, chaos, and renewal that is present in God’s universe.

The next stage is a time of uncertainty and inner re-orientation. It is an “in-between” phase as we cope with the death of the past and the not-yet of the future. For both churches and pastors, this “in-between time” can be difficult as both parties are experiencing grief regarding the past situation and learning how to cope within the new situation. This is a transformative time as the old life is dismantled, and an image of the new life is constructed. Reflection, communication, openness, and gentleness are needed during this process as everyone moves towards the stage of beginnings.

Just as the re-growth of spring takes time, so do beginnings. A beginning isn’t so much an outward goal, as much as it is an alignment and resonance with deep longings that cause a renewal of energy and powerful motivation. One feels a compulsion to take-action and start! However, be careful and gentle as various people within your church team and/or family may go through this process differently and at different paces. It does take time (usually at least 12 months) to live into the “new beginning” as the church, family, and pastor live into their new role, image, or chapter.

If anyone is in Christ, that person is part of the new creation. The old things have gone away, and look, new things have arrived.

(2 Cor. 5:17 CEB)

With God as your guide, may you find your new beginning.