The Villager Voice
When I counsel couples – young couples in particular – for their coming wedding, I often remind them of all the work they are currently doing to make the day special: finding the venue (and the officiant), choosing floral arrangements, deciding on a caterer and menu, securing bridesmaids and groomsmen and coordinating their garb, choosing music, planning a honeymoon, navigating family issues, finances and so much more. By the time their special day arrives, they can’t be blamed for thinking all the hard work and heavy lifting are behind them. It is part of my pastoral responsibility to remind them, ever so gently, that while the work of the wedding is nearly done, the work of the marriage is only just beginning, and it too will occasionally require some hard work and heavy lifting. Understanding this is an important step toward finding tools for a fulfilling life together.
This came to mind the other day as I was sharing coffee and conversation with the new Area Conference Minister for our Middlesex Association, the Rev. Leslie Jackson. Leslie served as pastor at the Cathedral of Hope UCC in Houston, TX, and has a master’s degree from Case Western Reserve in the area of Organizational Development and system dynamics. We spoke of our shared concern for the still-developing Southern New England Conference. While already five years old, the Conference continues to experience growing pains in some important areas (one of which, as we mentioned last Sunday, is the plan to close and sell the Silver Lake Conference Center). The conversation led us both to the same conclusion, that the Conference, like a marriage, continues to be a work in progress. A lot of hard work and heavy lifting went into bringing the historic Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts Conferences together as one, and the temptation is strong to view it as a finished product. It is probably healthier, we agreed, to view it as an ongoing process of growth. There is still much work to be done, but as with every new relationship, maturity sometimes comes in fits and starts, and if we trust God’s presence in the process, we can live into our new circumstances with faith and confidence. So we hope, and so we pray.
Links to Sunday’s bulletin and service are here: