Sunday, February 01, 2009

Final Sermon at First Presbyterian Church
It was 11 ½ years ago that I began my ministry as Pastor at First Presbyterian Church here in Hartford, 41 ½ years ago that I was first ordained to the ministry of word and sacrament. I must say that it has been a good trip, a wonderful career. In many ways this particular church has been a wonderful experience to complete my ministry because this church is unique in so many ways. First Presbyterian Church has a long history of service to this community, holding on to its identity as a Church committed not only to staying in the heart of the city, but also its commitment to really serve the city where God has placed us. It is also one of a small, but growing number of Presbyterian Churches that are truly multicultural and multi racial as well as embracing diversity of theological viewpoints, including Gay and Lesbian members, and which is both multigenerational and includes people from a variety of economic classes.

In the time that I have been here we have moved from a quiet welcoming of homosexual members and leaders to being leaders in our Presbytery and denomination on issues of inclusion and marriage equality. At the same time our racial and ethnic diversity has vastly increased in these last dozen years.

Our growth or rather our lack of growth in the past dozen years has been disappointing, but at the same time we can take pride that after a long period of decline we have still received over 80 members, almost making up from the losses by death and other causes.

We have maintained our giving and continued a long tradition of generous support for missions. We have also made major improvements in the building, running a successful capital campaign that raised over a quarter of a million dollars.

In these years I have preached over 500 sermons, at least a few of which have fallen on fertile ground and brought forth some fruit. I have performed over a dozen weddings or in one case a civil union. I have visited you and your loved ones in hospitals and nursing homes; I have visited many of you in your homes, and broken bread with you on hundreds of occasions. I have baptized your children and buried your loved ones. I am going to miss these opportunities for ministry, but the time has come for a change in my life and in our relationship. After today I will no longer be the person you look to for pastoral care. For very good reasons our Presbytery’s ethical guidelines of former pastors prohibit my offering my pastoral services for members of this congregation. The session has made provisions to provide pastoral care in the period until an interim pastor is called, and when a new interim is in place she or he will be your pastor.

The truth is that in these nearly one dozen years we have become more than pastor and members. Many of you have become friends and friendships can continue beyond the end of the pastoral relation. I hope to stay in touch with at least some of you, and when we have moved to a new home in North Carolina I hope that some of you will want to visit with us. We live adjacent to a wonderful golf course and Holden Beach and the beautiful Lockwood Folly River are only minutes away from our home.

We read a part of a long farewell speech that Moses gave to the people at the end of his ministry as well as a part of Paul’s farewell speech to the Ephesian Elders. Each is quite long and heavy with advice and each is a valuable passage, but I am reminded that sermons of great length can lead to people falling asleep as poor Eutychus did during Paul’s farewell speech in Troas when falling asleep he fell out of a third story window and killed himself. Now Paul was able to raise him up to life, but I don’t have that power. I had to go shake up a sleeper who fell asleep in the back row several weeks ago and was glad to find he was still alive.

There is a single sentence in each of the passages that I would like to lift up in these final remarks. From Moses I would join him in saying, choose life. Chose life, choose hope, choose love, choose generosity and you will have a good life. From Paul I would remind you one more time that Jesus said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Choose life, choose generosity and you will receive blessings from the almighty.