Entering into a New Season

-
During this time of waiting and preparation (an early Advent?) since moving back to California from Washington, DC as I prepare for the new beginning in Quincy, CA, I have been reading Jane Myers Perrine's book, The Welcome Committee of Butternut Creek which my mom recommended to a friend and me.  The book is about a young, 25 year old first time pastor, Adam Jordan arriving to the small town of Butternut Creek, TX to become pastor of the Christian Church.  However, Adam is gruffly greeted by Miss Birdie, the pillar of the church and head of the Widows, with her sidekick Mercedes.

See, Pastor Adam arrives with minimal essentials, no furniture, doesn't know anyone, and a broken down jalopy of a car.  Everything changes before long and before you know it, Pastor Adam has furniture, makes new friends, and also seems like he is always at odds with Miss Birdie, even though it will be evident in the book how each one really comes to care for the other.  It also shows that as gruff and tough Miss Birdie is on the outside, she really does have a heart of gold.  In addition, the Widows' official role is to try and play matchmaker, as no young man should ever be single in their eyes.

A subplot of the book also  focuses on Sam Peterson, a nephew of one of the widows who passed away who moves into her house.  Sam was injured in combat in Afghanistan and we see some of the flashbacks to when he lost his leg, but also dealing with his own emotional issues.  But we also see transformation in him throughout the entire book when he meets Willow Thomas, his physical therapist and her two sons after they break his sliding glass door and perform jobs to pay it off.  The Widows also try to meddle with Sam and Willow, which may be their only success early on, but we will find out more in the rest of the series (The Matchmakers of Butternut Creek and The Wedding Planners of Butternut Creek).  In many ways, I think a lot of us can relate with one or more of the characters in this book.

While I hope to read the rest of the series as I get to read a lot more for fun, I also can relate on so many levels with Adam, being relatively young at 35 (36 in August) and single (which I also note is by choice in my case), as well as moving into a small town to pastor a church for the first time, as Quincy's population is less than 5000.  It will be an adventure entering into this new season, crossing a new threshold, and making new discoveries and new adventures along the way.  Thankfully in my interactions with some of the people of Community United Methodist Church, I have received a warm welcome and am also receiving meals from the women of the church my first few days when I move into my house on Tuesday morning.  But what will the rest of the new season look like as we prepare to cross this threshold together?  Where will we show love and grace to each other, even when that love may mean tough love?  Where will we learn and grow from each other just as Pastor Adam and Miss Birdie did?  It is indeed an exciting new season we are entering and look forward to the new adventures ahead!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Move...in Love" - Sermon, August 26, 2018

-
Community UMC, Quincy “Move…in Love” Rev. Andrew Davis August 26, 2018 Ephesians 6: 10-20             It is GOOD to be back with you this morning.   These last two weeks, I have literally been on the move from driving to Sacramento, then flying to San Diego, doing a lot of walking in San Diego, flying back to Sacramento, driving back to Quincy for a brief minute, then to Lake Tahoe this past week.   Talk about being on the move!!   Yet amidst the busy-ness of these past two weeks, my mind has been moved too, as I have learned a great deal at the School of Congregational Development and look forward to sharing more with the lay leadership of our church.   Of course, there was a lot I was challenged to think about, especially this last week at Residence-in-Ministry at the Zephyr Point Retreat Center with fellow residents seeking ordination as deacon or elder in the UMC and CA-NV Conference, as we focused on theology and heard some deep, thought-provoking lectures from Dr. C
Read more

Where Do We Begin? Sermon, July 3, 2016

-
Community UMC, Quincy, CA “Where Do We Begin?” Pastor Andrew Davis July 3, 2016 Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20         It feels so much like Christmas Morning. - You know, that feeling when we were all children?  No matter how late we went to bed, we still woke up early on Christmas Day with that sense of anticipation, just waiting to see what was laying beneath the Christmas tree, or what waited in our stockings on the fireplace mantle or wherever the stockings were hung. -- Likewise, today also feels like the first day of school, slightly along with that same sense of nervousness of not knowing what to expect, not knowing who will be in the same class, or whether or not you’ll like your teacher. -- I think both feelings can sum up how both of us may feel this morning, this first Sunday together as pastor and people. - We both come into today with a sense of anticipation, a sense of new energy, but perhaps a sense of nervousness as well, - not knowing what to expect from each other
Read more

Lenten Ruminations

-
Usually, I have used this space to post my weekly sermons and monthly newsletter articles, although this year for Lent, we did a series about rehab at Community UMC and because of the highly personal nature of the stories shared in the series, chose not to post the sermons from Lent this year.   We began our time of Lent in the wilderness, reflecting on the things that tempt us and where we too may find ourselves in the wilderness.  We then talked about our need for intervention, whether it's God intervening, or people who love us so much that they intervene to keep us from doing harm to ourselves or others.  The third week, we talked about working the program, linking The Ten Commandments to how we work the program of our faith, but how we may have had to work the program through therapy or 12-steps, etc..  We then heard a powerful story about recovery, thinking about how we can make it through some of the challenges life throws at us, ultimately leading to promise as we awai
Read more