FROM THE PASTOR
Reflections of a Short Timer
As I enter the last month of my contracted interim at St. Luke’s, I thought it might a good time to share some of the things I’ve been thinking and feeling in this transition.
How can I help?
I retired from Rainbow Hospice and Palliative Care at the end of 2015. I spent the largest part of my professional life there and through most of those years established and managed the Spiritual Care & Healing Arts staff. But there were changes as there always are in health care, and it was time to go.
Less than six months later Pastor Dick Johnson asked for my help. Pastor Alex took another call and was not going to be replaced. Dick asked if I could be available to respond to pastoral needs when he was out of town, make some nursing home visits, and preach occasionally. I was happy to help. When Michael Busbey served his internship with us and later, when Pastor Sally Hanson was called, my help was not as needed. Judy and I had joined St. Luke’s in the summer of 2019, so even though I was no longer helping, we were active members of the congregation – so I was “still around.”
Just after the July 4th weekend in 2022, Pastor Stephen Bouman asked me to help and I signed a three-month contract as interim visitation pastor – one day a week and one Sunday a month. I could not say “no.” The job description captured the things I enjoy most – parish visitation and occasionally preaching and presiding. So, I found myself, a happily retired hospice chaplain, helping in my parish.
When is a pastor not a pastor?
The Church has been of two minds about the function of ordination: on one side arguing that ordination defines what you do and the other, who you are. Going back to the Reformation, the Lutheran Church has included people of both opinions with Luther favoring identity and Melanchthon, function. I (and I suspect, Pastor Kyle) come down on the identity side of the equation. I was a pastor when I left the parish and became a chaplain (pastor in a specialized setting) and I was still a pastor in retirement.
As a congregation member I introduced myself as John because I was not serving as St. Luke’s pastor and did not want there to be any confusion about my role – but in agreeing to serve as visitation pastor, I found myself fully immersed in my pastoral identity and the pastoral role. And it was a delight to again find myself in parish ministry, visiting in homes and long-term care facilities, preaching and presiding, teaching, and caring for those dealing with loss and the end-of-life. I am grateful for the pastoral ministry I was invited to share over the past 21 months. I also know St. Luke’s has a called pastor and I need to step back so Pastor Kyle can be fully engaged in the breadth of pastoral work in this congregation.
And when did I get to be so old?
While Pastor Kyle brings experience and maturity beyond his years, I appreciate his youth and energy which have already impacted our life together. I thoroughly enjoyed celebrating the Easter Vigil with him and look forward to other opportunities to help in the future. (And I promise to get past the fact I was ordained before he was born.)
Judy and I are not leaving St. Luke’s. Our membership is here as well as a network of relationships which has grown in the post-COVID years. I will continue to be an active parishioner – and retired pastor – who will help when Pastor Kyle requests. (I am already scheduled to preach and preside on May 26.) I look forward to the end of this month and the termination of my contract with thanksgiving for the gift I have been given in the call to serve St. Luke’s.
Pastor John E. Schumacher, BCC
Interim Visitation Pastor
