BaptistLife.Com Forums.

I've been lurking on the various forums for six months or so and finally thought that I really ought to check in.
I"m sorta retired but have been serving as an interim pastor in an urban residential area church for the past ten years.
I've enjoyed reading the coments in several of forums and wanted to take a more visible role.

Welcome, Jack!

You've been an interim in a single church for ten years? Do they have any plans to get a pastor? Seriously, I've never heard of an interim pastorate lasting more than a couple years. Curious.

Yep, ten years. The search committee had been told they couldn't call an interim pastor so they just let it run on. I had been an interim there before and the called pastor left after two and a half years. They had just about spent their entire endowment with a pro bono pastor they are able to balance their annual budget and do a fair job in an mission outreach support. Officially we are an American Baptist Church but we do almost everything within an ecumenical cluster of neighborhood churches: 2 Roman Catholic, a Reformed, a Methodist, Lutheran and ABC. The group is a part of the Schenectady Inner City Ministries and participates in their outreach ministries (i.e., Food Pantry, Summer Lunch Program, Crop Walk, etc.). It's really a very rewarding ministry.

Jack, welcome to our group. If you sift long enough, you may find some nuggets of gold. I hope you will also contribute some thoughtful words as well.

Glad to have you aboard and participating, Jack. We need all the light we can get on some of these topics, as you well know if you've been lurking for a while.

Welcome aboard--looking forward to your participation. Feel free to comment on existing threads or start new ones.

Welcome! I'd like to hear more about your ecumenical community service activities. I think the "cross-pollination" that goes on when different denominations cooperate makes for healthier more vibrant church life all around. Some folks like living in the same old rut. To me that's a grave with both ends knocked out. I hope to hear more from you.

Welcome, Jack, very belatedly, if in fact you ever see this. I see you haven't been around for months and am not sure how your welcome thread came to be active, but it would indeed be nice to hear from you. I hope your self-disclosure about the terms of your engagement didn't cost you points with local lurkers.