Shelter from the Storm

Last weekend I had a good retreat at Austin Seminary.

I was there with a dozen or so other pastors from Houston. We were dealing with leadership issues after Hurricane Harvey and how that translates to healing for communities and congregations. The theme was "Shelter from the Storm."

I was surprised at how much better I felt at this retreat than I did at the previous retreat. So I asked one of the other pastors when was our last retreat? She said it was 3 months ago. I said it felt like 3 years ago.

We are all at different stages of grief or recovery after Hurricane Harvey. Our challenges are working with one another to move forward when each of us is at a different place in dealing with the crisis.

My sincere belief is that our sanctuary will come through this process much renewed and enlivened and ready to serve as a place of worship for the next 50 years. When we take that long of a Time Horizon, we realize that the most important thing is to get it done well and to get it done right. The least important thing is to get it done fast.

That's one of the reasons last Sunday I talked about patience as a fruit of the spirit. That thought is not original with me. The Apostle Paul mentions patience as a fruit of the spirit. Go read 1st Corinthians chapter 13 and you will see that the first thing Paul says about love is that love is patient. 

Let's bear the fruit of Spirit through patience even as we continue to make progress in the recovery of our sanctuary and continue the ministry we have to the community and this city as we naturally revel in our glorious vision of what God has in store for this church for the next 50 years.