“Ponderings from the Pastor”
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! With the “unofficial” start of Summer (Memorial Day) behind us and the “official start” ahead on June 21st, welcome to the “lazy, hazy days” of Summer. I hope you have made or are making some fun plans for the days and weeks ahead! As you well know, this will be an “unusual” Summer for all of us as we here at Stockton transition into a new Season in our lives and in the life of SMBC. Since this is my final “Ponderings,” I am praying that with God’s help, it will be as special as all of you are!
But before I ponder the future, I want to take some time to reflect on our past. It is hard to believe that just shy of 8 years ago, I hesitantly walked into Stockton for the very first time. I was met by the Pastor-Search team, most of whom I had never met or spoken to before. But just two hours later when I left, I felt a peace in my soul. I remember going home and telling Susan, “I can see us at Stockton! It feels like home and they feel like family.” And I remember thinking to myself, “I could retire from there!” I had NO IDEA how quickly the time would pass… and how much more “like family” we would all become!
Has it always been “easy”? Nope! There have been struggles and challenges. Some I knew about when I arrived, others that popped up along the way. But I would like to think that in spite of (or because of) the difficulties we’ve faced, we have become a better church. We have sent many wonderful saints home to be with the Lord, but we have also welcomed many more new family members into our fold. We have had our joys and our sorrows, our celebrations and our disagreements. Together we have survived one of the worst health scares of our lifetime, and as a result of the pandemic, we have become a “world-wide church”, reaching people through our increased use of social media, something that even 5 years ago, I never would have imagined we would be able to accomplish!
And now, as SMBC prepares to move into a new period, I have lots of fond memories. We’ve shared tears, but lots of laughs as well. We have continued the Stockton tradition of outreach and mission involvement. I have some sadness, mostly about plans that we were never able to bring to fruition. But overall, I leave Stockton with a sense of hope for the new leadership and your next steps. I would hope that you embrace Rev. Ellison and Debbie with the same love and caring nature with which you welcomed Susan and myself. And as I have told you so many times, “We may not know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future.” As a wise person once said, “We all have three types of friends in life: friends for a reason, friends for a season, or friends for a lifetime.” My prayer is that we will be friends forever!
May you never stop pondering!
Pastor Bill (and Sue!)
Our Life Verse for June- “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Colossians 3:13)
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! With the “unofficial” start of Summer (Memorial Day) behind us and the “official start” ahead on June 21st, welcome to the “lazy, hazy days” of Summer. I hope you have made or are making some fun plans for the days and weeks ahead! As you well know, this will be an “unusual” Summer for all of us as we here at Stockton transition into a new Season in our lives and in the life of SMBC. Since this is my final “Ponderings,” I am praying that with God’s help, it will be as special as all of you are!
But before I ponder the future, I want to take some time to reflect on our past. It is hard to believe that just shy of 8 years ago, I hesitantly walked into Stockton for the very first time. I was met by the Pastor-Search team, most of whom I had never met or spoken to before. But just two hours later when I left, I felt a peace in my soul. I remember going home and telling Susan, “I can see us at Stockton! It feels like home and they feel like family.” And I remember thinking to myself, “I could retire from there!” I had NO IDEA how quickly the time would pass… and how much more “like family” we would all become!
Has it always been “easy”? Nope! There have been struggles and challenges. Some I knew about when I arrived, others that popped up along the way. But I would like to think that in spite of (or because of) the difficulties we’ve faced, we have become a better church. We have sent many wonderful saints home to be with the Lord, but we have also welcomed many more new family members into our fold. We have had our joys and our sorrows, our celebrations and our disagreements. Together we have survived one of the worst health scares of our lifetime, and as a result of the pandemic, we have become a “world-wide church”, reaching people through our increased use of social media, something that even 5 years ago, I never would have imagined we would be able to accomplish!
And now, as SMBC prepares to move into a new period, I have lots of fond memories. We’ve shared tears, but lots of laughs as well. We have continued the Stockton tradition of outreach and mission involvement. I have some sadness, mostly about plans that we were never able to bring to fruition. But overall, I leave Stockton with a sense of hope for the new leadership and your next steps. I would hope that you embrace Rev. Ellison and Debbie with the same love and caring nature with which you welcomed Susan and myself. And as I have told you so many times, “We may not know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future.” As a wise person once said, “We all have three types of friends in life: friends for a reason, friends for a season, or friends for a lifetime.” My prayer is that we will be friends forever!
May you never stop pondering!
Pastor Bill (and Sue!)
Our Life Verse for June- “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Colossians 3:13)
