In today ’s reading from Galatians, Paul is setting the framework for lives and ministry truly rooted in Christ. Set free, they must submit to slavery no more. Living free, their hearts and choices must be inclined to the enduring truths and endless joy of things spiritual, rather than being limited by the desires and short-term rewards of the flesh. And, when choices are required, we must love one another as we love ourselves, not opposed to one another so as to be devoured by that opposition.
As I prepare this note for you, I realize that you will be reading it before, during, or after my final weekend with you as your Pastor. I can say from the depths of my heart that my time among you and with you has, indeed, been an experience of life and ministry conformed to this admonition from St. Paul. It has been a time, too, to experience life and ministry lived “upon this Rock,” who sets the guides, strengthens us where we stand, and helps us know that even as Peter was both chided by the Lord when needed and proclaimed by the Lord as the Rock entrusted with leadership and the Keys, we are his.
From faithful worship in our church, to our Parish Office, programs of education and faith formation and social outreach and gathering in our Parish Center, to ministries of outreach and service beyond the parish campus at Peace of Bread, Avidia (formerly Beaumont) Healthcare and Milford Regional Medical Center, life here cannot be perfect, but it is full and rich and the source of encouragement and memories that I will be carrying with me to my new assignment and always. Thank you for seeing me and hearing me, for tending my wounds when they came, and for blessing and encouraging my gifts as your priest. I can only hope that my ministry has blessed you in similar measure.