Since Silas Mehl accepted the call you issued in the name of our Lord, many of you have expressed thanks to me for the job I have done as your intentional interim pastor. Approving and warm words are good ways to express thanks; I thank you for giving me such things. Please indulge me as I suggest additional ways to thank me, and more importantly, to thank God.
To thank God for sending his servants (like me) to this congregation, receive Silas Mehl as his servant. Do not despise his youth, but welcome his energy. Include him and his family into your community of faith. Treat any foibles they might have as features, not bugs. Pray for him and your service to our Savior together in this place.
To thank God for sending his servants (like me) to this congregation, instead of reacting with fear and anger when provoked, take the time and make the effort to respond with gentleness and respect. Give one another and your new pastor the benefit of the doubt. Help him to understand your history and needs and expectations. Instead of resisting change, cultivate spiritual growth that produces the fruits of the Spirit. Look for ways to forgive one another and spread the practice of forgiveness to your community.
To thank God for sending his servants (like me) to this congregation, consider the needs of others as more important than your own. Instead of seeking to dominate others, look for ways to serve others in love. Respond compassionately as Christ comes to you in your neighbor in need.
Before I go, I want to be sure to thank you for your hospitality. Thank you for helping me prepare a home away from home. Thank you for listening respectfully when I said something crazy or difficult to understand. Thank you for patiently correcting me when I just didn’t get it. Thank you for questioning me, expecting me to help you make sense of God’s revelation of himself through his Word. May our Good Shepherd watch over us in the one flock he gathers together even though his call to service sends us to different harvest fields.
— Pastor Roger L Mackie