Yes, after months of interviews, long nights and and early mornings of prayer, reading MIFs and websites and statistics until my eyes got blurry, God has fully convinced me that I am being sent to serve the people at Kings Grant. It was a long journey, full of unexpected twists and turns. I mean, since when does a 2012 car break down one block away from the hotel after a 6 hour drive? How often does a two year old car have the 3rd, 4th, and 5th gears stripped from the transmission? Well that incident meant that we had to drive a rental car for two weeks and then return to Virginia Beach to retrieve our newly fixed car. That return trip, although only 24 hours, was my spiritual discernment retreat that helped lead me to the conclusion God wanted me to start a new chapter of ministry in Virginia Beach.
Of course I'm not going to Kings Grant just because my car broke down there while I was visiting. I'm going because of a search committee that was convinced long before I was that after 403 PIFs I was the one for them. I'm going because God spoke to me through Frederick Buechner who wrote, "The place God calls you to be is where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." I can imagine no deeper gladness than being the next pastor at Kings Grant. I'm going because when God wakes me up between 2:00-4:00 a.m. EVERY morning for 15 days straight thinking about this church, God must be trying to tell me something. I'm going because after trying to convince the search committee I was not the right one, after trying to see myself in other churches, after surrendering this call to God and willing to say no, I couldn't NOT accept this call (sorry for the double negative). I'm going because if the search committee is crazy enough to do their presentation to the congregation in bare feet to honor my preaching style, they must be kindred spirits (either that or as strange as I am). I'm going to this church because they are exactly what I need, and I am exactly what they need, and by God's grace we have been brought together for such a time as this. (And did I mention they are about 10 miles from the beach?) See who they are for yourself at www.kgpc.org.
So starting January 1st, I will be the next pastor at Kings Grant. The moving van comes December 26. December 27 I'll be residing at 604 Sandy Springs Lane Virginia Beach, VA 23452. January 11 I will preach my first sermon in what I know will be a long and fruitful ministry among a wonderful part of the Body of Christ. February 8 I will be officially installed by the Presbytery.
