A MESSAGE FROM THE PASTOR: AN EXPRESSION OF LOVE
“Any last words?”
That’s generally an ominous question in the movies or on TV, and there’s a certain pressure to come up with something truly eloquent and memorable. For this last Pastor’s message, I don’t have much that is eloquent, but I hope that they will still be remembered.
First, I want to say a word about our relationship 
after this Sunday. For nearly seven years, I have been your pastor, and in that relationship we have both loved and cared for each other through joyful and grievous times. And we can continue to do that once I am no longer your pastor. I will certainly hold this congregation and all of you in love, and I will be praying for this congregation and its leadership, and especially for the Session and for Lindsey, and the Transitional Pastor when they come, and of course for your next installed pastor.
If you find yourself in the Baltimore-Annapolis area on a Sunday, I hope you will worship at Woods Church; I would love to see you! After August 27, my new church email, Jaustin@woodschurch.org will be active, and while it has many flaws, social media does make the world a much smaller place and enable people to be connected from far away.
That does not mean that there will not be changes, though. After July 28, I have only one pastoral responsibility that endures, and that is to make space for your next pastors. To paraphrase John the Baptist: “They must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). So, for example, I will not be initiating contact often with any of you, but please take that as a sign of love rather than a lack of it, because I take that final pastoral responsibility very seriously.
Second, I can no longer function as your pastor in any way, formally or informally. That means, among other things, I will not be able to accept invitations to officiate weddings, funerals, or baptisms unless the next installed pastor specifically invites me to take a part when they are officiating. And since I am not retiring but going on to another pastorate with many responsibilities, my availability will be very limited even if such an invitation is extended.
If you reach out to wish me a happy birthday or to ask how I am doing, for example, that will be welcome. But if you want to discuss church business or seek spiritual guidance or pastoral care, I will remind you that we simply can’t have those kinds of conversations anymore, and you should speak to one of the pastors at First Pres. Not functioning as pastor after a call has been dissolved is actually a requirement with these specific prohibitions of the presbytery, and I am bound to obey that by my ordination vows.
That said, I also think that the requirement and the prohibitions are wise ones to have, because they make the appropriate boundaries clear to everyone, and enable us to love and care for each other as fellow Christians rather than falling back into a pastoral relationship. Obeying that requirement is, again, an expression of love rather than a lack of it.
And so on that note, I want my last words to be ones of love. I have deeply, deeply loved being your pastor, and I love this congregation and you as its people more than I could ever adequately express. And I will undoubtably struggle at times to adequately express things on Sunday, because my mother taught me from birth that crying is a good and healthy way to express emotion, but unfortunately I have a difficult time talking when I’m doing it!
So I want to express that love clearly here in these words, and I hope you will understand that those tears on Sunday are themselves expressions of deep and overflowing and abiding love for you all and for what we have shared together. I hope to see you on Sunday as we join in worshipping God together one more time, and share some good barbecue and celebration afterwards!
Grace and Peace,
J.C.