Farewell from Pastor Stephen
It is not quite four years since we arrived to serve the two congregations of Ringwood and Knox, which have since that time formed a parish. In that short period of time it seems to me that so much has happened. I have that feeling of having passed through a lot of territory on this journey with you. As I reflect on all this, I realize that this impression is due to the fact that in this time it is I who have grown.
It is usually the way in the church that pastors are called to help congregations grow, not the other way round. And it is indeed my prayer that I have been in some way helpful in your Spiritual growth and development as God’s people.
Yet in ministry the traffic is never just one way. In giving we receive. In serving we are served. In teaching we learn. In caring we are cared for. I can testify that this is true from my own experience here with you.
You have helped me grow. I have been stretched and challenged at times by my ministry with you, both in the volume and depth of the pastoral needs I have encountered. Far from letting me deal with this alone, I found many supportive and encouraging voices speaking to me in these tough times.
You taught me that although we pastors often feel alone, we are not.
I was called to serve the wider Church as Vice President, then as Acting President for a time and, although this in some cases meant sacrifices for the people of our parish, yet you supported and helped me in this work too.
You taught me the deeper truth behind that statement so often glibly made: that “the Church” is bigger than just our own parish or congregation.
In situations of conflict and disagreement, which are inevitable when you have a church made up of sinner-saints, I learned that reconciliation, forgiveness and love can heal and repair relationships. You taught me the lesson we all need to learn multiple times in our life; that the past can be left behind, and the new beginning is possible.
I am sometimes, for some reason I’m not sure of, bowled over when a person says to me “Pastor, I …”. Here is the voice of the sheep calling to the shepherd, whom Jesus the Good Shepherd has given to the flock.
You taught me what a high and wonderful office this is. In honouring the office of pastor, you have “called me” again and again, just as you did in May 2004.
So yes, you have been my teachers, and I am grateful for what you have given to me, for the gifts large and small, material and spiritual, for the affirmation, criticism, encouragement, patience and love.
God bless you.