August 2025

From the Pastor:

Many years ago, when I was learning to drive a car, my father insisted that I learn to drive a car with a manual transmission. At that time, about half the cars on the road had manual transmissions and it seemed like a good idea. Today, only a few cars have manual transmissions, but I still have the ability to drive nearly any car on the road.

Over the years, I have wondered if my father’s insistence on teaching the manual transmission was a life lesson. Whether he intended the lesson or not, the manual transmission has taught me much about changes in life.

For instance, learning important things in the broadest way possible offers the opportunity to explore possibilities. Driving a car is just one way those possibilities come to life.

Learning a manual transmission also teaches a lot about nuances. You learn to listen to the engine and to switch gears at the most appropriate time in the acceleration of the car. You also learn to manage several key operational issues in the car at one time as you learn that your feet operate in tandem with your hands.

Eventually, you also learn the rhythm of acceleration. If you pay attention to the car, you understand when you are going too fast or too slow. And using the manual transmission, allows you to make appropriate adjustments in your driving.

In many respects, my father’s simple driving lessons also taught me much about being a pastor in a congregation. And, while I have not always succeeded with the nuances of congregational life, I have listened to the various forces of change affecting congregational life for more than fifty years.

One of the things I have learned is that seemingly simple concerns can result in difficult “gear shifts.” Sometimes, however large and difficult issues result in smooth transitions as change easily occurs.

As we approach the ending of summer, I have always experienced a shifting of gears in congregational life. With the beginning of a school year, new patterns of life emerge and an invisible vitality also becomes visible in shaping congregational life.