Marking the End of an Era

Last Sunday was my last day at my church.  I don’t think I’ve talked much about what has been happening there over the past year, but it’s been bad.  I was going to leave about the time I lost my job, but decided to stick around and not make so many changes at the same time.  Four months later, it is beyond time to move on.

This is a good time to do it since the one ministry I am most heavily involved with only had a schedule through the end of the quarter.  Ironically, I did get roped into helping with the 2’s and 3’s this last Sunday.  And wouldn’t you know it, I came down with a cold thanks to them.  But that was a one time thing, and I have made that very clear to the person who recruited me.

It’s sad.  When I switched churches 4 years ago, I thought I was going to a solid church with Godly men leading it.  But over the last year, I have watched a division on the elder board tear things apart.  And since I disagree with everything the winning elders have done, I can’t stay any more.

And I said I wasn’t going to get into it.

It was a very strange day for me overall, because it marked the end of an era in my life.  The end of a seventeen year era – what I consider my entire adult life.  The church I’ve been attending is right next door to the place I worked, my old college.  I have been in that canyon 5 to 6 days a week for the last fifteen years and every day for the two years before that.  As I drove out of the canyon, I knew it was the last time for who knows how long.  That’s a crazy feeling, and a definite end to a chapter in my life.  Heck, even when I moved down to So Cal permanently, I have gone home several times a year.  That’s still a huge part of my life, but the book isn’t quite closed on it.  This is final in so many ways.

Yes, I know which church I am planning to visit next.  And temp jobs seem to be keeping me pretty busy.  God is still definitely at work in my life.  But man, it’s weird to see that part of my life close with such finality.