"For Everything There Is A Season..." (my final "Notes from the Journey" article)

The book of Ecclesiastes says, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” We have now arrived at the season for saying goodbye. Six years ago, when I first arrived at Plymouth to preach my “candidate” sermon and you called me to come be your pastor, I didn’t know how long I would be here, although it was clear that I was closer to the end of my career than the beginning. As someone said to me recently, “We knew you weren’t a spring chicken.” That having been said, it feels like it has been a good run, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have shared this time with you. And now things are winding down. This will be my last “Notes from the Journey” article as your Pastor. In a few short weeks I will be preaching my final sermon. Then a new chapter will begin, for me and for you. There is simply not enough time, nor enough words, to adequately express all that I am feeling right now – excitement at the new possibilities unfolding before me, sadness to be saying goodbye to so many good and caring people, relief in letting go of the responsibilities I’ve been carrying (especially in this last very challenging year), delight at the prospect of being in close proximity with my beloved partner after so much time apart, and humility at the amazing honor it has been to be your pastor these past few years and to so many more over the past 40 years. In these final few days, as I prepare to take my leave of you, please know that I am more grateful than I can say. I look forward to sharing just a bit more time together before the last goodbye. And then…we will just have to see where life takes us. A couple of months ago, right after I announced my retirement, I wrote a poem which I titled “A Retirement Poem.”

what comes next?

the first things

that come to mind are

rest & play & family

a time to grow more fully

into who I am becoming

after that we shall see

what comes next

Thank you.

- Pastor Roger
(keeping my feet firmly planted in the flow)