Word from the Pastor – Sabbatical Update

Hello Church! “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”      
My sabbatical continues well I’ve spent good time reading, thinking, writing, and having conversations. I worshiped recently at Duke Chapel. It was beautiful in architecture, music, and spirit. Afterwards, I ran into the new pastor of the congregation there. Apparently it’s Ryan Wilson, who was previously at Wake Forest Baptist Church and worked with Pastor Jeff Mathis. Ryan came to our own church back in the spring to bring an offering that Wake Forest Baptist collected for our church’s hurricane relief work. Now he’s pastoring the Congregation at Duke Chapel, and, as it turns out, he’ll be going to Scotland with the group of North Carolina Baptist ministers that I’ll be joining for the first part of my trip there. So we’ll be at the Isle of Iona together. (When they head back home, I’ll start walking.) It was great to make those connections with him. 

Other wonderful connections include having breakfast with a local Lutheran pastor, David Brooks, who went to college with our own Smitty Dotson-Smith. He did his doctoral work on Celtic Christianity, so we had lots to talk about. I also got to attend a reunion of my seminary in Richmond, which I wouldn’t have been able to do if I wasn’t here and on sabbatical. It was great to connect again with friends and professors. They asked where I was these days, so they all got to hear how great our church is. And they shared their encouragement with us as we keep serving our area.

It was also nice to be back home for a bit last weekend, to watch Silas in the North Buncombe marching band (and also Carissa in the cheerleading squad), as well as participate in the town’s one-year hurricane anniversary celebration at the Community Center. The service was sad, sweet, and encouraging, as we remembered what we all went through, but also remembered that we got through it.

Now there’s just two more weeks until I start my pilgrimage in Scotland. I’m very excited. (And a bit nervous.) If you’d like to track my progress, you can open a detailed route itinerary HERE. It will be both challenging and insightful, like any good pilgrimage should be. I invite prayers for safety and wellness.
 
As the Apostle Paul ended his epistle, I also end mine: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor. 13:4).