Future

Calvary is a congregation in transition. That means, as the years have gone by, Calvary’s young families have gradually transitioned from that phase of life to middle age and on to, shall we say, the later years of life. While this faithful group of folks in the later years of life continues to worship and serve in ways that often astound me, to their great relief there is now a new group of folks a little behind on the path of life bringing up the rear, planning for the future.

(Crude and tactless translation: there used to be only a lot of old people at Calvary and now there are increasingly more younger people in the mix.)

Each group brings its own gifts to the community; I’m grateful for the whole big diversity of folks who make up our church family. But I’ve noticed that, with the transition of ages in our church, my pastoral duties have begun to change.

I realized this Sunday as I visited our newest little church family member, Renzo, who was born just last week. He and Mom Jillian are doing great. I personally thought it was such a coup for me to spend an afternoon sitting on the couch in a puddle of sunshine holding a sleeping baby close and being able to honestly report that I spent the afternoon “working”!

Little Renzo is going to rock his Mom’s world–he’s already working on that–but I think his birth is really the symbol of a new day for Calvary. His birth marks a significant shift, one where the pastor doesn’t just hang out at nursing homes anymore, she also gets to spend moments holding brand new babies.

Welcome to the world, Renzo, and most of all, welcome to your church family. There are many of us “older folks” already lining up to get our turns holding you. By coming to our church family you’re insured a whole bunch of extra grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles (and pastors) . . . who will hold you and love you and teach you about a God who loves you, too.

Yes, we’re all glad you’re here, you see, because you are our future.