Long time gone

I haven't posted in quite a while because, frankly, I haven't known what to say. I've had plenty of thoughts and feelings, as anyone who knows me and what I've been going through lately knows, but I just haven't been able to put it into a coherent format suitable for publishing on the Internet.

First thing's first: I'll be moving from Nashville to Clarksville in June to be the pastor of Bethlehem UMC:

This church has been around since 1836! I'm excited/nervous/scared/etc, as you can probably imagine. The congregation doesn't have a website as of now, but that will change soon.

Second, even though I've been given a full time appointment I won't be commissioned at the upcoming session of Annual Conference. The Board of Ordained Ministry turned me down but hasn't told me why. They've promised that an explanation will come later, but I'm sure you can understand my growing cynicism since it's been almost two months. As of now the plan is to go back and try again in a year or two, and obviously I'm sticking with pastoral ministry for the time being.

But my discernment hasn't ended on this whole thing. I'm not questioning whether I'll continue to be in ministry, it's a question of whether it will continue to be in the Tennessee Conference, the United Methodist Church, or in any ordained capacity at all. I've had doubts and reservations about these things for some time, and the rejection by the BOM has only heightened them. I'll probably write my next post about questions surrounding the whole idea of ordination.

That's all for now. I'll get back to the standard "Truth As Best I Know It" fare soon.