Today I reconnected with fellow Baptists at the Pittsburgh Baptist Association's monthly meeting. (Actually they meet bi-monthly). Although there was only a handful of people there, I was glad I went. I listened as they shared various frustrations of doing ministry in today's world. I discovered that though there are about 55 ABC affiliated churches in the Pittsburgh area, many of them are small and therefore have pastors who are bi-vocational and who have completed the "Christian Leadership Institute" program that offers basic courses to prepare people to serve in these smaller churches. And since the people are "bi-vocational," they are not always available for Association Clergy meetings.
As the people there shared I realized how truly blessed I've been to be able to get a theological education and serve in full time ministry. There are many people who want to do ministry, but can't afford the time or cost necessary for a seminary education. I realized too, that when I served churches in Pittsburgh many of my fellow pastors were also seminary trained. Not so today. Things are quite different now in many ways. We have truly been blessed.
It was good to hear that there is a group that is trying to find ways to strengthen the fellowship needs of local pastors and that they'll be working on that for the near future. I really enjoyed the fellowship I had with the pastors of the West Association in New Jersey. Though there were only 17 churches in our association, there were always a dozen or so in attendance at the monthly meetings. It met a real spiritual and collegial need for those who attended, as well as connecting us with the wider denomination.
Today's meeting was at the First Baptist Church of Coraopolis. That church is only about 4 miles from the first church I served out of seminary, the Mooncrest Community Baptist Church. It was nice to be back in that area after being away for over 35 years.
Dee and I had taken a ride back to our first church about a month ago on a weekday. It was like a walk back in time as we drove around the church building (which is now painted blue for some reason), and drove by the first house we lived in as newly weds. Dee noticed the tree in the front yard and reminded me of the day her father brought the tree down from Butler and planted it for us. My that tree has grown... Later that same day we drove past the house where one of the members used to live and wondered if they still lived there. We stopped and sure enough Betty Werme was home. When I knocked on the door, she turned, looked out through the screen door and said, "Well, look who's here." Then she called to Chuck (her husband), he came to the kitchen and they invited us in. We spent the next 30 minutes getting caught up on what had happened to all the people we knew so long ago. It was again like a walk back in time.
I've been continuing to practice the Q-chord. http://www.qchord.net/ Today I became familiar with the chord progression of 4 songs. "Thank you Lord; The Old Rugged Cross; Thy Word; and We Are One in the Spirit." The first one is a song I used to sing during my teen years every Sunday night at the close of the evening service. I haven't sung it for decades now. Lately I was thinking about that song and so it was nice it was in the book I have of old songs of the church.
Here are the words: "Thank you lord for saving my soul. Thank you Lord for making me whole. Thank you lord for giving to me, Thy great salvation so rich and free."
Today I've been counting my blessings - a good thing to do on occasion.
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