Monday, June 4, 2012

Comings and Goings

In church yesterday we bid Farewell and Godspeed to another family. We are always so happy when folks come to our church, and so sad when they leave. We'll do it again in two weeks, as a young man in our congregation moves to Chicago. I know this is just a part of congregational life, that people come and go, but it still is never easy.

But I got to thinking about that - how transient our churches seem to be these days. I know it's not just mine. Folks seem to be much more mobile than in days gone by. Gone, it seems, are the days when generations of families would live in the same community. Folks now move a lot . . . and that has made it tougher on churches.

But at the same time, it seems to me that pastors are staying longer. It used to be the other way around. The pastors would move and change while the people stayed the same. Now, clergy movement has declined and the sheep move about more. Interesting.

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