Saying goodbye and hello

It is official. This is the snowiest January in Detroit. As of Saturday 31.5 inches of snow has fallen, beating the 29.6 inches that fell in January 1978. More snow fell today and more forecast for tonight. We've had two bouts of cold weather, with temperatures topping out below 10F, with a third freezing week ahead. No January thaw this year. Shoveling is a challenge because I am running out of places to put the stuff. The mound in my front yard is about three feet high.



In the United Methodist Church pastors are appointed by the bishop and tend to serve 4 to 12 years before moving on (usually to a larger church and better pay). Since I moved into the area back in 1980 there have been six pastors in my local church. Two of them are regular readers of this blog.

I started attending that church (sorry for being oblique but I try to be anonymous here) just after New Year in 1980. Their new handbells arrived in February and they needed someone who knew what to do with them -- I had played in middle and high school. I was hooked. It was because of bells that I've done a lot of world traveling; I've attended ten International Handbell Symposiums in Japan, England, Korea, Australia, Canada, and here in America. Handbells are now how I make music.

I've done more than just bells. Over that last several years I served on the Stewardship Committee, talking about how we can be good stewards of the environment, our money, and of the church.

Alas, I am leaving that church. They have become stodgy and set in their ways, looking inward. I've been dissatisfied for a couple years now, but the bells and various projects associated with them have kept me there. But I went off to the Reconciling Ministries Network Convo at the end of summer and I'm inspired to take up various justice efforts. I realized this church had no interest in working with me. So I began to say I would not renew my committee work.

I began to search for another congregation and visited various options when my duties at my home church permitted. And I found one. Though twice as far away (four miles to the east instead of two to the south), I see that it is a welcoming place (perhaps we can make that official) and looking outward, thinking about what new ways can we help our community.

So just after New Year I said a few goodbyes. That church had been my home for 32 years (I was in Germany for two years, which is why it isn't 34). Since then I've been attending the new one.

Last Monday I told the bell choir. Alas, that group has dwindled to just four at the moment. They are in mourning at the moment. I will continue to lead them through a transition, but I don't think I can keep a foot in two churches.

The new church does have a bell choir. I haven't heard them yet. Alas, their rehearsal is at a time that is impossible for me.

This evening I attended the annual Variety Show at the new church. They don't call it a talent show because they don't discriminate against those with no talent. There were about two dozen acts. There were musicians, dancers, joke-tellers, and a few skits. Some were quite good, especially the drummer. One was a boy, perhaps 4th grade, who can now eke out three notes on his trumpet. The pastor told jokes with his sons (ages 8 and almost 6) delivering the punch lines. The kids of a couple families danced. It was all marvelous fun, even if I didn't know the personalities or in-jokes. It was a community enjoying each other's company and encouraging each other's talent.

Some day soon I'll have lunch with the pastor so he can get to know me and we can discuss what projects I might work on.