Today is my dad’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad!
He is the pastor of our church, which he was appointed to in 1988. My wife’s family also attends there. And it’s where I have served on part–time staff for the last several years. It’s fun to be on staff at a church and there are lots of great dynamics when you have more than one member of a family on the same team. There have been a ton of changes at the church over the years years – one example is the many different room numbers as additions have been added (read about the room numbers at Troy UMC).
One benefit I get to see – for all these years – is a pattern of faithfulness. It’s interesting to look back and realize that he has been going over to the church every day for more than 40 years. He has gotten up to preach every Sunday – 52 times a year (and for many of those Sundays it’s been three or four times a day)! That’s not counting Wednesdays – another 52 services a year. And he has found time to love people in between.
I’ll save other things I have learned for another “preachers-kids-now-serving-in-ministry” blog post.
FUNNY SAYINGS ABOUT MINISTRY
He has a couple of funny sayings he uses here and there in ministry:
Every Man For Himself Ministry is a Contact Sport
He is also nearly world famous for remembering names:
MUSIC
One Christmas season, he wrote lyrics to a song to go along with his message series. My cousin and I put some music to it and one of my brothers and I recorded the song, which is on my mom and dad’s CD – The Songs We Sing.
Take a listen… Because You Are Jesus
And here’s a song that he has sung for several years – the Mississippi Squirrel!
Buying the CD is easy. Just stop by his office, bring a $10 bill and hang around a while to see if can locate an extra copy.
Being in pastor is much tougher than it looks from the outside. And out of the some 400,000 pastors in our country, you’re doing great.
On behalf of the family, keep up the good work. And have a fun birthday!
OTHER POSTS…
6 Things every pastor deserves
America’s favorite steakhouse (and the church)
6 Ways a staff member can influence the church
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