Dear Family of Faith at the Neighborhood Church,

These are “moving days” for my family…time to sort, pack, and load.  We’re heading West!  Exciting times, full of anticipation and hope. 

The adrenaline flows, making it seem like you may have endless energy for this project. And as is often the case, my wonderful wife is doing the lion’s share of this difficult work on the home front—while I fund most of the project and provide moral support from afar as I spend the bulk of preparatory days out here with you folks, she is doing the heavy lifting. Of course, Lucy, our now 18-year-old, is of some help—at least, a distraction. Along the way, some friends and family suddenly have an urge to get together, realizing that time is up for us, and off we’ll go! Funny how folks show up, and don’t. In recent weeks, as many of you know, we lost one of my best friends: my 11 yr. old goldendoodle, Fiona. She’d been with me through so many of the ups and downs of our lives, yet she remained steadfast in her commitment to eagerness, hopefulness, and enthusiasm about life and our family. She just simply laid down one morning at home and gave it up.  Fine one day; gone the next. Almost as if moving was going to be too much for her.  Change was never her strongest suit.

The fact is that this moving thing is tough, hard, emotional work.  This letting go of things you’ve carted around for years...deciding what is truly essential for your new digs and this newest chapter in life.  There are some losses along the way, getting ready for new beginnings, fresh turf, and surf. And

It occurred to me that these days we spend in the “interim” together are moving days as well. Together, in a very intentional process, we will discover God’s marvelous future for TNC, become adept at change, and we’ll practice enjoying life together and in ministry to God’s beautiful world to which we are called and sent. Some of us will handle the bulk of the heavy lifting. A couple of folks may drop away as we move forward.  Far more will join us in figuring out our destination. But, it’s time to move!

While the interim is designed to be a time when the congregation exhales, it is not a time for treading water. It ought to feel a little difficult, unnerving—but exciting, too! Moving days get us somewhere. May God grant that it would be so among us... 

Pastor Rick