Ripples on the River – January 2020

Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”  As we begin a new year, it has become clear that it is time for me to give the congregation my retirement date:  June 1, 2020.  My last Sunday with you will be Pentecost, May 31, 2020.

Thank you for your support and partnership over the past 17-1/2 years of ministry together in Great Falls.  We have much to celebrate as we have grown in faith and mission living God’s radical love as an inclusive people.

I turn 65 in March, and my body and soul are telling me it’s time to retire from the full-time pastoral ministry after 42 years as a Disciples minister.  It’s time for me to be open to new calls in my vocation.  Ruth and I anticipate serving this summer as short-term Global Ministries volunteers.

We will be selling our house in Great Falls and building a new home in Eastern Washington closer to our grandchildren.  That will be our home base as I continue coaching, finding other ways to support pastors in transformational ministry, doing spiritual direction, and witnessing for justice.

It will be hard for me to move from this place that has been home longer than any other place I have ever lived.   But I believe it’s time for the congregation to call a new pastor after the transition of an interim ministry.  It’s time for the church to move into the future with fresh energy, different ideas, and a more contemporary outlook.

In Christ, Ron