From the Interim Pastor

Note: Robert Foltz-Morrison served as Interim Pastor for the Bloomfield Presbyterian Church on the Green from April 2009 through March 2011. Sermons by Rev. Foltz-Morrison are available here.

March 2011

Transitions

Traditionally, Lent recalls the 40 days Jesus fasted in the wilderness. Those 40 weekdays (not Sundays) begin with Ash Wednesday and conclude the Saturday before Easter. We will host additional services during this season: Ash Wednesday (March 9, 7:30 PM), Maundy-Thursday (April 21, 7:30 PM), and possibly Good Friday. Liturgically, the church remembers this as the time “Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem.” No longer is Jesus the itinerant teacher traveling from one town to another. During Lent we watch as he moves closer and closer to Jerusalem, the center of Jewish religion and Roman politics in Judah, not far from where he was born in Bethlehem. There Jesus will be tried and crucified; there Jesus will reveal God’s power over death as we transition into Easter, with two services on April 24th. The crux of our faith is lived from Lent to Easter so I encourage you to attend church, deepen your personal commitment to Christ, and reach out in care to others in the fellowship and community as Jesus did.

Lent also holds another spiritual transition for the church as the church searches for the minister who will lead it into the future God has given you. When Jesus was in the wilderness discermomg who he once was and what he was to do in his ministry, he was tempted to give up his faith and faithfulness. Transitions tempt us to do the same. There may be gaps between one minister leaving and another coming; people may sweep in to take over; things may not get done; patience may get tested; relationships could get frayed. Or, you can see this as your Lenten spiritual journey deepening your trust with God even with changes, all the while deepening your love and appreciation for each other and the congregation readying itself for the new person God will bring to you.

Transitions are part of life—saying goodbye to someone or something and hello to someone or something else. Mine is here with you. I said goodbye to a previous ministry and said hello to you, coming to a new town and faith community to sojourn among you as a pastor and guide toward the day you have a more permanent pastor here. God has yet to confirm to me what is ahead, but it is time for me to say my thanks for asking me to serve you as an interim minister, to ask your forgiveness for things left undone or unfulfilled in your eyes, then for both of us to let go and let God take charge of our futures. Paul said it well: “Forgetting what lies behind, I strain toward the future into which God is calling.” God give you courage to let go of what is past so your eyes may be open to the future God is unfolding before you now. Trust God; and minister to all people as Christ teaches us in the gospel. Peace be with you.

The Rev. Robert Foltz-Morrison
Interim Pastor
Bloomfield Presbyterian Church on the Green

Past messages from the Interim Pastor:
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
Summer 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009