April 30 - Pastoral Pondering

Today is the last day of April, 2026.  I have nine more Sundays left before I retire on June 28^th.  Last night I attended the April Church Council Meeting.  I only have two more such meetings left before the Council takes a leave for the summer and resumes in the fall with their new minister.  As I write this I am aware that I am feeling a mixture of relief and sadness.  I am relieved that my time here as your minister is coming to a close.  I have been in this role far longer than I originally had planned.  But I also have been warmly welcomed, embraced and supported by this community of faith.  So changing this relationship is not easy for me or for you.

The polity and practice within the United Church of Canada declares that when ministers leave a pastoral charge they keep away for at least one year.  This enables the new minister the opportunity to create and develop the needed pastoral relationships and connections without influence from the previous minister.  It is an ethical practice and standard that I fully embrace, respect and plan to follow.  So I ask you to celebrate with me while I am here, say goodbye the end of June, and then let me disappear for a period of time while you get to know your new minister.  

This is my neighbourhood and my church, so in time the plan is that I will return to rejoin this community of faith as a member who lives down the road. So we are entering into a season of endings and beginnings.   Or, in the words of T.S. Eliot:

What we call a beginning is often the end

And to make an end is to make a beginning.

The end is where we start from.

We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.

Shalom,

Rev. Dr. Dale Johnson