Dad

13 March, 2004 10:50 AM

Today I'm going to a farewell lunch for my dad who has just finished up in a ministry position in the head office of our denomination. Dad is 60 years of age and has been in a variety of types of pastoral ministry since the late 60s - before I was born. I find this pretty hard to comprehend on many levels.

I've been doing this church thing in a variety of roles for just on 10 years and I know the pressures that it brings. To know he's been doing it for 40 is quite staggering. He's made significant sacrifices in that time - welcoming all kinds of people into his home, being on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week, watching his hair go from black to snow white (please God not me too) etc

I really admire his commitment to the task at hand. In a world where people flit from job to job every couple of years Dad has stuck with it for the long haul and will continue to do so. When he could quite easily retire Dad and Mum have decided to keep serving - he's just taken up an interim pastoral position in a little old church for the next few months and will continue to do so for years to come. What a Guy!!!

update - the lunch went well - people said nice things about Dad - there were even a few tears. Dad's latest job was as an area pastor for our state - for the last 10 years he's been visiting and supporting pastors and churches in the eastern region of our state. In that time he's driven almost half a million kilometers in his travels.

They have him some money for a digital camera which is exciting - now I get to go shopping with him to help him spend it!

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