The Introduction

Day 10 - The Introduction

It seemed like a film noir movie opening.  I was asked to sit in the car, in the darkened parking lot of a country church on the outskirts of Westminster, until the DS sent me a text to let me know that I could come in.  We decided to not meet at Westminster as the news of my introduction was to be kept quiet.  There is a mix of feelings as you wait for the "all clear" and then adrenaline kicks in.  The phone rang, "Ok, you can come in now."

The DS met me at the door and we walked into the hallway and the door on the left was a lounge of sorts and as the door was opened and I walked in there was a pause and then a cheer!  I recognized nearly all of the folks in the room.  No introduction was necessary but for the few that were wondering, the DS clarified who I was and shared for a moment my decision to return to Westminster.

We talked casually.  Lots of grins and good vibes.  I shared a little of my journey around the conference for the last twenty years and the news of my return to Westminster came as a shock to both Jacki and I.  We were asked if we were moving up to Westminster and at that time, everything was still in flux.  Jacki wanted to move and downsize our home while I realized that moving was going to involve a lot of extra work besides regardless, Jacki had already in conversation with a realtor friend and they were looking at houses.

As the DS shared the process moving forward, my current DS would share the news with the SPRC team at Mount Zion and then both churches would announce the appointment move on the same Sunday, the effective date for move was to be July 1, 2015, twenty years to the date when I entered my first appointment.

Meanwhile, we were to keep silent on my appointment to Westminster.  I left the meeting excited about coming home but also a feeling of dread as I knew that it wasn't going to be easy to step away from Mount Zion.