A New Tribe

It's time for me to return from my summer blog sabbatical.  Since I wasn't in class, I spent my summer reading, relaxing and, oh yeah, I found a new tribe.

Several months ago, I wrote about severing my relationship with the denominational family I had called home for my entire life (you can read it Here).  It was a challenging time and I confess that I was both  hurt and disconcerted by the experience.

So I embarked on a search for a new tribe - a new denominational family in which I could fulfill the call of God in my life.  I didn't know where I would find one or even if I would find one.  All I knew as I started the journey is that I could not go back, that the place that once was home was no longer.

Now, if I'm honest, I fully expected this search to take some time longer than it did.  Because I sit here today writing about my new denominational home, the United Methodist Church.

I have been a long distance admirer of the UMC for some time now, and had even flirted with joining their tribe in the past.  The fear of change, though, kept me where I was.  It was not until I had no choice that I took the plunge.  I began serving as the pastor of Bringhurst United Methodist Church in Bringhurst, Indiana on July 3 of this year.

And you know what?  I find myself asking on a regular basis asking myself what took so long.  The UMC appears to be exactly what I needed in worship and ministry.  Whereas I felt in my old denominational family that I had to work hard just to be accepted and fit in, and I felt afraid to be myself in many circumstances, I have felt welcome from the first moment.  It has been refreshing.

There are two key lessons I learned in my surprisingly brief sojourn in the wilderness of tribe-lessness.

The first is this: My old denomination family was not bad.  I fear that I have given that impression in the way that I have spoken and written about the experience.  It was different.  I have good friends there and I still pray for the work of that denominational family to be blessed by God.  It simply was not the place where I fit.  And that's okay.  One of the reasons different denominational families exist is so that God can place people where they will fit best.

The second lesson is this: no denominational family is perfect.  When you spend 30 years in one denominational family, it is easy to unreasonably expect that it will be perfect.  I fell into that trap, and no denominational family could live up to that.  Consequently, I am bringing a new level of awareness to my joining with the UMC.  I know that I will not like or agree with everything in the UMC.  And that's okay.  In fact, I told the district superintendent of the UMC that I did not want to make the ultimate decision about long term, career ministry in the UMC until after a year just so that I could take time to evaluate some of those areas.  Imagine my shock when the response was, "That's a great idea."

The crazy thing is that I don't need a year.  I know.  This is the place I belong.  I finally found a home where I don't have to pretend to be something less (or more) than I am.

I have found my new tribe.