This is more than likely the first of several Pastor’s Pages containing some anniversary reflections.  This September marks a couple of milestones, including 25 years at St. Luke’s Zion (can you believe it?!) and 30 years since my ordination to the ministry of Word and Sacrament.  A lot has changed during that time, and this month I’d like to reflect on some of those changes.

            Last year I was at a retreat for pastors and other church leaders.  One of the first questions we were asked in a “get to know you” session was what has changed the most since our first years in ministry.  My answer was this:  In past years, when a member of the congregation or one of their family members died, I was one of the first to know.  People wanted the pastor to be there, and to pray, and to commend the person into God’s care.

            However, these days, I am often one of the last to know when a parishioner dies, sometimes finding out after the obituary has already been printed in the paper (or, in some cases, several months later).  Often there is no service, or if there is one, I am not a participant.  Is this a sign of people moving away from the Christian faith, or something else?  Perhaps some of you can enlighten me ????.

            One of the other changes, which I suppose is to be expected with age, is that I just don’t have the energy that I used to.  For years I was out an average of three or four nights a week, and often more.  Some of those commitments were church-related, and some were not.  Regardless of how much time is made up at other times of the day, somehow evenings and weekends are always the most tiring.  These days, two or three nights is an absolute maximum (and still very tiring).

            Of course, there are other changes that have entered the picture ever since Covid-19 hit.  I never thought that I would learn how to put videos together, or livestream a service from my dining area at home, or even be “on camera” every Sunday.  It is just like the meme where a person is staring, wide-eyed, at the camera, “and suddenly, we were all televangelists!”  I even learned how to host meetings and teach classes using Zoom!

            Another thing that has changed quite a bit is making hospital visits.  It used to be that most hospitals had some sort of arrangement for clergy parking, and most had a list of patients for each religion and/or denomination.  Such lists are hard to come by now, and where they do exist, hardly anybody is listed.  There are also more hospitals that no longer offer any parking for clergy (at least, other than the paid kind).

            A final change that I will mention is that there has been less and less need to have any fixed office hours.  Very few people just stop by the church in order to see me, and if they do, it is usually when it is convenient for them.  A small number of people used to make a point of phoning during office hours, but most phone whenever they think of it.  Given the advent of cell phones, it is usually possible to reach me, regardless of my physical location.

            Meanwhile, thankfully, God’s grace and mercy have not changed, and neither has the power of the Holy Spirit.  Thanks be to God!      

In Christ,

                        Pastor Lynne Hutchison