Archive Entry #103: April 18, 2014

Eight days from today I will reach 30 years in ministry as FCCEM pastor. Given that only a small percentage of pastors reach that milestone, I feel a bit of urgency and intensity as I await the anniversary. But the eagerness with which I wait for July 8 is nothing in comparison to the fire that burned in me last year in the weeks leading up to June 6, when the length of my tenure here equaled my grandfather’s tenure at the church he founded and in which I was raised: 10,560 days, or a month shy of 29 years. For a significant period of time I seriously considered resigning as FCCEM pastor, effective the day before I would have reached grandpa’s service record; but in the end chose to carry on.

Today’s entry, written six weeks or so before the big date last year, expresses a bit of the passion I felt then, but no words can fully report the depth of joy, pride, and humility I experienced as I visited both the church he served and the cemetery where he is buried. An astounding journey.

The following column is in the archive because of its raw emotion and landmark subject matter. But it’s also here because it functions as an appropriate introduction and backdrop for Friday’s entry, grandpa’s contest-winning speech on patriotism from 92 years ago. Please come back for that entry; you won’t be disappointed.

COMING NEXT: From April 1923, my grandfather’s contest-winning oratory on patriotism from 1923. I believe you will decide his column is an outstanding way to begin an Independence Day weekend. Find it HERE.