On Entering a Liminal Phase

The past few weeks have been full of a rush of “lasts,” a plethora of endings and reminders of endings, and the beginning of a season of, well, beginnings.

In reality, the past two years have been a time of great transition—and of endings and beginnings—for me, both personally and professionally. This time last year, we were rounding the corner on a time of transition at Calvary as our senior pastor, Rev. Ken Dunnington, prepared to retire. I foolishly thought that would be the most significant transition I’d experience for a while! I say July 1 as a breather, a chance to get back into the groove (albeit new groove) of things.

In reality, July 1 would merely be a respite before a rush of much more. My father’s sudden passing July 3, Mary’s (two weeks late!) arrival August 30, maternity leave, my grandfather’s brief illness and death, Advent, Christmas—all of it at a break-neck pace. And just when things could’ve quieted down, after careful discernment, Chris and I decided it was time God was calling us to take on a new church and seek a new appointment for me, and really, for our family. None of these things have been easy, but in all, we have perhaps never more powerfully felt God’s presence and guidance than these past months.

So now, I find myself fully entering transition time. My first transition workshop was last Monday, and this Saturday I will gather with folks from Arden along with other pastoral and congregations experiencing transition in the Frederick and Cumberland-Hagerstown districts. Our new Administrative Assistant at Calvary begins tomorrow, and my schedule has been cleared to help get her up to speed in the limited time I have left between conference meetings in my last month here. Our new associate will be named shortly, and I will be soon tasked with helping that person get up to speed as well.

So, this is without a doubt a liminal phase. And this time of transition is rife with possibility. So I’m excited. A bit anxious—it’s easy to forget, when leaving one place, how anxious you were upon arriving, and only how settled you eventually became.

I hope to be more intentional about blogging through this time of transition. If you have blog post suggestions, whether about the transition or about me, or about being a UM pastor, let me know!