Called, Chosen, and Set Apart
One of my favorite books on pastoring is This Odd and Wondrous Calling by Lillian Daniel and Martin Copenhaver. What makes the book so lovable and relatable is that both authors are pastors who don’t dole out advice or offer 5-point plans for success. Instead, they are story tellers trying to give words to a vocation that deals with life’s greatest mysteries.
Twelve years ago today (June 13, 2010) was a significant day in my own ‘odd and wondrous calling’ as I was ordained an elder in The United Methodist Church. For 15 years I’ve worked in the local church, and I’m still learning how to tell the glorious story of what pastoring is, for it is rich and beautiful but also hard to describe sometimes.
I’m delighted to walk alongside all of you as I begin my seventh year as your pastor this month. Let us keep in our prayers our brothers and sisters throughout Mississippi Methodism who are experiencing changes in leadership. Next month, Ralph Weems and I will attend the Mississippi Annual Conference as your representatives, July 13-15. We welcome your prayers for the Annual Conference as well as our whole United Methodist denomination. Ralph and I are currently visiting Sunday school classes to share information about current events in the Church, and we will also share at the Wednesday Night Supper this week. Please don’t hesitate to contact either of us with questions.
Let us remember this week that we are all called as the Church to live as a set apart and holy people who fear the Lord and uphold one another in the faith. As 1 Peter 2:9 reminds us, “9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
all good things to each of you,
Dr. Darian
Lectionary Texts for Sunday, June 19, 2022
1 Kings 19:1-15a
Psalm 42
Galatians 3:23-29
Luke 8:26-39