What is an interim pastorate?
Letter from the Interim Pastor The question most asked of people in interim ministry is, “What is an interim pastorate?” The short answer is: It is the ministry that comes between called pastors. It is how a church gets from what came before to what comes next. The longer answer is that an interim pastorate […]
Why Not
A Last letter from Pastor Phil As you look forward to a new year and a new minister at Pioneer, I hope you are thinking of the new possibilities. When we were saying goodbye to each other as my time at Pioneer was ending, I heard a common theme among the many stories shared. What […]
Steadfast Love
I guess you could say I am stubborn about being stubborn. There are simply some aspects of my character I refuse to change. I dig in my heels and say that no matter what happens to me I am not going to change certain aspects of my character. I refuse to stop loving. I refuse […]
Our Heritage
We did not get to have the picnic, but we still had the birthday. In September, Pioneer Congregational Church turned 171 years old! On Oct. 31, Protestant Christianity will turn 503 if we consider the nailing of the 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Chapel door by Martin Luther in 1517 as the beginning of Protestant […]
Aware of the Air
Lately I have been very aware of the air around me — scorching heat, then the smoke from the fires. Like so many other aspects of life, my awareness is triggered only when there is something that makes me uncomfortable. Otherwise, I am perfectly fine assuming that the air that I need will always be […]
History In The Making
Like it or not we are making history. Are you writing it down? Will the next generation really understand what 2020 was like? Who knows what will seem important to others a couple of decades from now? This month, August 2020, my father would have been 100 years old. When I realized that, I began […]