Continuing the Journey

It has been six months since I began my journey with McLean Baptist Church and I could not have dreamed that I would feel so connected to a congregation than I do with this wonderful body of believers. 

"This church is a lot different than our other church."  Grant, my seven year old son whispered this to me as we were walking into the narthex of McLean Baptist Church for the first time as a family last March. 

I remarked back to him, "I know!  It is a little scary hu?  What is the biggest difference that you have noticed?"  Grant took my hand and thought as we continued walking, "I don't know where anything is...this church is like a maze."

Of course, Grant was right -- more theoretically than practically (although I still haven't mastered the layout of the building and I get lost on campus at least once a week) -- this place has been a maze.  It is a maze of family and friends....of ministry and missions...a history of shared joy and tragedy...of kingdom triumph and sometimes disappointing failure...a maze of love and mercy...of grace offered and grace received.

My six month plan was dedicated to "figuring out the maze" that makes up McLean Baptist Church...and while I know I have much more "maze navigating" to do, I feel so blessed to be partner in this maze with this church.

Upon my arrival, the church and I wrote a covenant that we conscecrated during my installation service.  We took the exercise very seriously and we spent a lot of time developing the exact words that matched our specific desire and vision for our journey together.  I often look at the covenent to keep the commitment and promise I made fresh in my heart and mind.  I think it would be appropriate to share a part of that document here, if only for you to begin to understand the profound and meaningful relationship I share with my church family:

Dr. Upton:  People of McLean Baptist Church, do you affirm your call to Dr. Brad Herridge as your pastor?

Congregation:  Today we affirm our call to Dr. Brad Herridge, asking him to exercise the gifts God has given him in his ministry at McLean Baptist Church.  We have hoped, prayed and worked for this day.  We thank you, God, that you have led us by your spirit.

Dr. Upton:  Do you pledge lovingly to support and care for Dr. Herridge and his family in the ministry of this church, ever keeping them in your prayers?

Congregation:  We pledge our love, our support and our prayers for Dr. Herridge and his family.

Dr. Upton:  Dr. Herridge, believing this to be in accordance with God's will, do you accept the call of this congregation to be its pastor, offering your love, support, comfort and pastoral care to all in need?

Pastor Brad Herridge:  I do.

Dr. Upton:  Having accepted this call, do you promise to execute your charge, leading this congregation in the study of the Holy Scriptures and encouraging them to have limitless vision and fresh faith?  Will you preach the Good News of Jesus Christ as recorded in Scripture, encouraging your people to study, cherish, and seek to follow the teachings and example of Jesus Christ?

Pastor Herridge:  I do, and I will.

Dr. Upton:  Will you endeavor to instill in the people of McLean Baptist Church a view of faith and commitment that embraces their need to be involved in Mission that advances the work of God's kingdom and reaches out to a needy world?

Pastor Herridge:  I will.

Bob Wallace:  Dr. Herridge, we, as a Search Committee commissioned by this congregation, sought to be responsive to the Holy Spirit and the needs of McLean Baptist Church.  We celebrate that God led us to you and that the church affirmed our recommendation.  As you share your gifts with us and this community, we offer our sustaining help as partners and friends.

Raymond White:  Dr. Herridge, as your colleagues we celebrate your call to be pastor of this church.  We will join with you as a team of Christ’s servants, and with God's help, we will support you and this congregation in ways that will make your ministry here both fruitful and joyful. It is our prayer that you will experience the presence of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit as you seek to be faithful to this call.

Shirley Bass:  Dr. Herridge, as we, the deacons of McLean Baptist, form a ministry team with you, we promise to support you in providing pastoral care to the members of the church.  We look forward to serving alongside you as we offer love and support for our congregants. 

Nancy Ross:  Dr. Herridge, as we use the gifts that God has given to this church through you and its members, we also pledge ourselves to work with you, sharing our own gifts to serve God’s church and to accomplish the mission that God has entrusted to us with you as our shepherd.

Sarah Hamrick:  Dr. Herridge, as we lead our children, youth, and adults in this church’s education programs, we will work together with you to help our church family grow closer to God, learn how to become better disciples of Christ, and seek to become the faces, hands, and feet of God in our community.

Ingrid Bowers:  Dr. Herridge, we promise to support your ministry with our music.  We pledge to offer our best efforts as we seek to inspire our congregation and bring glory to God.

Stan Skocki: Dr. Herridge, as we seek to live as Jesus did by serving others through missions in our community, nation, and the world, we look forward to working with you, praying with you, and listening and responding to God’s call to help others.

Youth:  Dr. Herridge, we are the youth of McLean Baptist Church.  We look forward to getting to know you and your family and having you and your family get to know our families.  We’re excited about the future of our church and the memories we will make together.

Children:  Dr. Herridge, we are the children of our church family.  We would like you to be our friend, and we want to have fun with you and learn from you.

Congregation:  God has called us all to share in the joy of his kingdom through worship, prayer and fellowship.  We need the help and support of each other.  Although we each have different gifts, we join together to bear witness to the transforming power of God, believing that in Christ we are all one.  Today we celebrate that unity, that goal of building up God's church, that opportunity to be ambassadors of God's spirit in the world.  Dr. Herridge, we praise God that you have been called to this congregation.  We will strive to support the leadership you offer as we grow together in the family of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Herridge:  I have sensed a strong calling from God to minister in this place at this time.  I am grateful to God for leading me here, and I am grateful to the congregation for the kindness that has been shown to me.  I commit myself to serving as your pastor with humility and integrity.  I look forward to walking with you on our journey together, mourning with one another in our sorrows, celebrating with each other in our joys and growing together in favor with God.  It is with a happy spirit and a humble heart that I stand before you.  Let us together re-commit to offer ourselves to the Lord and to each other.  Let us offer our understandings and insights, so that we and others may be challenged and changed.  Our emotions and experiences, so that through honesty and openness we may find and give encouragement & comfort. Let us offer our skills and talents, so that in joyful recognition and sharing we can see the overflowing love God has for us. Let us celebrate and offer our common humanity, the very fabric of our lives, so that people can find the God of love here, the Creator God, who’s made us all unique, precious and loved.  Let us offer our very lives together so that the Lord can take them and spend them for the life of the world.  Amen.

Dr. Upton:  Having heard the promises made today, I charge you to work together, to pray together, to witness together and to play together, and may the love of Christ bind you together in fellowship with God.

Pastor Herridge and Congregation:  Hear our prayer, O Lord, as we now dedicate ourselves afresh to you and the work of the Gospel through this, your church.  Help us to become the people you want us to be and to do the things you want us to do.  In Jesus' name we pray.  Amen.

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