We’re moving to Pinkstaff! Wait, where?

Here it is, at long last, the details of the move. I will be appointed as the pastor of the Pinkstaff/Birds charge of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference of the United Methodist Church beginning July 1, 2008. Pinkstaff worships fifty or sixty on a Sunday, but they have a membership of fifty or sixty. They draw in people from a wide area, including Indiana, and they are, get this, an interracial congregation. Birds worships ten and is mostly made up of farmers. Pinkstaff is not a town; it is a clump of houses just a couple miles north of Lawrenceville on Rt. 1. This will put us a little further from family, but we can deal with that for a while.

These two churches and two others are considering a charge realignment with two other churches in the area, meaning one pastor will be serving all four with the assistance of a lay speaker. This was hoped to be in place by July 1, but not everyone is on board yet. The plan is to continue pursuing this, and it would be good for the churches. Pinkstaff is, by far, the largest of the four, and Birds is not the smallest. It would be a way to insure that these churches could be served by a full-time pastor for years to come. This means that we might just be at Pinkstaff until mid-September, with another move after that. But we might be there a while.

Through the take-in, my weirdness sensor was silent. I sensed no hidden tension, no power agendas, no general creepiness. They seem like open, friendly, supportive people, and will certainly be a safe and educational place to rest for a few months. My sense is that I will want to move on, primarily because I don’t want to stand in the way of the realignment. I think it’s what the churches need.

We will not be moving immediately. The pastor coming here will be commuting from Mt. Vernon and won’t need the parsonage, and the Pinkstaff parsonage won’t be ready for a couple weeks, so I’ll be commuting, as well. When we get the details hammered out, I’ll let you know what’s happening.

I ask that you remain in prayer for Grayville and Fortney. The incoming pastor is going to be, in the District Superintendent’s words, “assessing” Grayville for future ministry, and some weird details have come out about some things that certain leaders in Grayville have done to exclude Fortney from this process. There is some legitimate anger in Fortney that might further strain the already difficult relationship between the two churches. Please also be in prayer for Misty and me as we take on the challenge of a move and a new ministry.