Job Security

April 6, 2019

“One more year at seminary!” My young friend is eager to get at it. 

“What then?” I asked.

“I’m not sure; maybe plant a church. I’d even be a choir director. I just want to serve the Lord.”

“It’s a bit up in the air, the way our denomination is going. Who knows what another year may bring.” It wasn’t the most encouraging response, but it is the reality we face. In another year, the United Methodist Church as we know it may not even exist, so I told him a story.

“It was a lot different when I went through the process,” I explained. “We would interview with a half dozen seasoned preachers who held our future in their hands. When I was through my interview, one of the pastors asked me a question. ‘All the others we’ve interviewed were quite nervous. You were calm. Why is that?’

‘I was raised Baptist. I don’t know if this is the place for me. You know this system; it’s your job to tell me if I fit. If not, I’m OK with it. I still know God called me into ministry. I’ll just go somewhere else.’

I continued with my young friend. “If God has called you into ministry, there’ll always be a place for you.” 

Just a few minutes before this conversation, I was talking with an old friend who commented, “You’re still in Dunkirk, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am. Two Sundays’ pulpit supply turned into two years, and probably three.” I was quite thankful when he didn’t offer the same old “Preachers never retire” line. Instead, he assured me that I would get to retire. 

He ruined it all with his parting shot: “It might take another ten years, but you’ll get to retire.” In reality, I am thankful I’ve never had to draw unemployment, never known what it’s like to be out of work, or what I’ll be doing on a Monday morning. Or tomorrow, for that matter.