TRANSITIONS


• Main Entry: 1tran·si·tion
• Pronunciation: \tran(t)-’si-shen, tran-’zi-, chiefly British tran(t)-'si-zhen\
• Function: noun
• Etymology: Latin transition-, transitio, from transire

1 a : passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another : change b : a movement, development, or evolution from one form, stage, or style to another

This is what we are facing now, here at Hilmar Covenant Church, with Pastor Bruce’s announcement last Sunday morning of his retirement from our congregation, effective March 1, 2010.

Transition, from a senior pastor who will have served our congregation for 28 years to the day on March 1, to......what?

This is the question that people are asking. Most, of course, had no idea that such an announcement was coming on Sunday morning. It was shocking. Feelings of grief were evident. No doubt fear and questions and denial were going through people’s minds as well. Its reality was abrupt; sharp; completely unexpected--certainly not a “transition” moment!

What it was, though, was the initial step on the path to what is going to become a long, well thought out, carefully planned and crafted period of transition--a journey--from one way of being Hilmar Covenant Church to another fresh, inspired, prayerfully considered way of being HCC, with new understandings, healthy changes, renewed commitments, and of course a new senior pastor who will help our congregation define ourselves in new, exciting ways.

Every journey begins with this first step. I think of Dorothy in Munchkinland, heading off to see the wizard, with the words: “Follow the yellow brick road.”

I think of Bilbo Baggins as he begins his great adventure in “The Hobbit,” with the words: “The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began.” Or even this one from Confucius: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” What follows--what gets us from “here” to “there” is the transition.

The HOW of getting from “here” to “there” is another story. This is what can make people feel giddy with excitement as they anticipate the journey, wondering what new things they will encounter, what fresh vistas they might see, and what unique new challenges they might discover--or it can make people feel overwhelmed with fear, draw back in the face of uncertainty, and resist the many unknown factors that lie along the transitional path. The question for us at Hilmar Covenant is: which perspective will we choose to have during this time of our transition?

We might feel that what we are facing is a crisis moment for Hilmar Covenant. We have not had a change in pastors for over 27 years! This is unfamiliar territory to our congregation. If we tend to be coming from a fearful, resistant perspective, it might seem threatening--even destructive--to who and what we are as a church. However, in his retirement letter, Bruce shared a poignant example of how we can look at this transition time. He said that he often reflects on the Chinese word for “crisis,” and how it is made up of two characters: one is “danger” and the other is “opportunity.”

Bruce says: “In every crisis there is the danger of becoming bitter or the opportunity to become better.” Which way will you choose to go? Bruce asks this of us: “May we as individuals and as a congregation consider my upcoming retirement from ministry with you as an opportunity for all of us to become better.”

Something to remember about transition, too: it is not the end product itself. It is not the final place to land. Transition is the process of moving toward that end result--that desired outcome--which is only a hope, a dream, or a vision in this time of movement--of transition. It will not last. But it will help us to arrive at something new and different, ripe with fresh potential, filled with opportunity!

At our staff meeting this week, Bruce began our time together by showing us a gift that he received some time ago from Laurie, our office secretary. It was a wonderful bit of wisdom, done in cross stitch: “We are all faced with a series of great opportunities, brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” Some of us might think that we are, indeed, facing an impossible situation. But let’s remember those two Chinese characters, and this bit of wisdom from Laurie’s cross stitch: what seems like an impossible situation is truly a great opportunity!


May God lead and guide us as a congregation in this time of transition, and prepare Pastor Bruce and Kris for “what’s next” in their lives beyond HCC.

Let’s choose to become better as Pastor Bruce leads us forward in these coming weeks and months of transition, and to embrace everything that God has for us in the future.