Pilmoor Memorial United Methodist Church

The last two months for us have been...well…”unique” among the days of our lives.  For those who have not heard—and there may yet be a few who haven’t—Mary Jane and I, along with Thomas, will be receiving a new assignment in ministry beginning June 23, 2009.  We will be moving to Sunset Beach, NC to serve as Co-pastors of the Seaside United Methodist Church there. 

I have lived in the house next to Pilmoor longer than I’ve lived anywhere except the home I lived in throughout my school years (11 years here vs. 12 there).  Considering that I came to faith in my later teens, you may not be surprised that I’ve been involved in Pilmoor significantly longer than any other church.  This place is as much home for me as anywhere I’ve ever lived.  And our upcoming departure has filled me with a peculiar mix of emotions: anxieties, fears, excitement, anticipation, sadness, nostalgia, hope and a few more that I have yet to even Identify, I’m sure. 

Things have been happening fast for us.  Holy Week and Easter brought their usual mix of events, celebrations and moments of reflection.  Then our mission trip to Biloxi, where, to our great pleasure and relief, Thomas received notice of his acceptance into the NC School of Science and Math in Durham (to our great joy and relief).  About the time of Wesley and Amanda’s first anniversary, Wesley accepted a position as a staff engineer at the Dominion Coal Terminal in Newport News.  Good news, all.

And yet all has not been smooth.  The bishop and his cabinet have encountered some difficulties that have affected the entire appointment process.  And while a few, including Mary Jane and I, have been spared much of that turmoil personally, many pastors and churches (including Pilmoor) have not.  So we anxiously await word on who the new pastor will be, trusting that this particular set of hiccups will soon be over and we can begin the hard work of transition.  In the meantime, Mary Jane has learned she will need surgery on her neck, which we hope to time so that she can be fully up and about before moving day.  Then there are the interminable parades of boxes, post-it notes, the growing pile of yard-sale items and the occasional cries, “has anyone seen my…?” 

I can’t help but feel a certain kinship with Abram upon receiving his call to leave his home and family and venture to that place “That I [the Lord] will show you.”  Surely he,  experienced the emotions of leaving a beloved home and facing the unknown—as concerned for what he might face as for those he had to leave behind.  Though we don’t know the outcome of our own stories, we do know that his story and ours share a common theme that appears over and over:  God is faithful...always.  As the spiritual heirs of Abraham, this is the promise that makes a future with hope a possibility.

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