Leading

Once in a while, I must admit, I really miss leading worship.  I put it that way, because for me, leading worship was by far my favorite aspect of the ministry.  I relished every single aspect of that, and planned ahead in three month blocks, in order to maximum participation by others, and to facilitate the most high quality worship service possible.  While I do/did love preaching, for me, worship was always about the entire service and how it all fit together, not just about the sermon.  The scripture for the day was always the foundation around which the rest was built.  I would not be shy about saying this is something at which I excelled, and had significant gifts.

But of course, leading a congregation has so many other aspects to it. There was also the need for pastoral care, and for counseling. At tending to the spiritual needs and nurturing of the flock , I do believe I was more than adequate.

Leading an organization (local church) requires a completely different skill set, and being a leader in an organization (denomination) requires a kind of toughness that I never could quite muster.  It is this last category that contributed the most to my decision to retire.  If ministry were all about worship and people, I'd still be at it.   But it is also about business and management, meetings and numbers. I managed to do these things as required,  and with success, but never with passion and joy.

If ever an opportunity comes along that is mostly about leading worship,  I'll grab it!  But in my heart I know that "church" is far more complicated than that.

Once in a while, I sorely miss having the opportunity to use my gifts.