Change
Change is coming our way. I will retire from Ministry on March 31, 2024. In a matter of weeks, the names of an Interim Pastor and new pastor will be determined by The North Texas Conference Cabinet, in consultation with our church’s Staff Parish Relations Committee, and shared with the church. Whew!! That is a lot of change but guess what? The goodness and greatness of God does not change.
As you know, I’ve been an itinerant United Methodist pastor for 35 years. Over that time, change was constant. I found myself moving to seven different assignments, and believe it or not, I came to embrace change.
I believe that you can embrace change, too. Please pray for yourselves, the church, and the incoming pastors. As we know, prayer changes things and prayer changes us. Below, I’ve listed three quotes on change that personally helped me. I pray they help you, too.
“At any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or step back into safety.” — Abraham Maslow
”The only way to make sense of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” — Alan Watts
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 New International Version
A Time for Everything
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”
Your Pastor,
Dr. Sheron C. Patterson