Together

This Thursday, I had the privilege of going to the Mercer Cluster meeting. This is an annual gathering of the pastors and some laity from the churches in the area, where they discuss what's going on in their churches, in the region, finances, new pastors/pastors who are leaving, etc. Pastor Linda is actually the cluster counselor, and she thought it would be a great experience for me

It's meetings/events like this that I never had the opportunity to attend, even as a pastor's kid. There was really no reason for me to go to gatherings like this, and I mostly stayed home with Mom while Dad went to the boring meetings. So when I get the opportunity to attend this kind of meeting, I really truly enjoy the new experience. I really like the community here in Mercer County. The pastors meet each Tuesday for Bible studies, work hard to support the mission congregation, threw a party for a pastor who was leaving his call, and generally supporting one another in ministry. I love seeing the church at work in a very Jesus-like way, loving one another and being concerned for what happens in each others' lives. It is definitely important for the leadership to have such great relationships with one another.

The various churches are so supportive of one another. The mission congregation needs a lot of financial help, and the rest were more than willing to jump in. One of the churches just called a first-call pastor, and the other pastors are helping out with all of that, as well. The camaraderie is just fantastic, and I hope I am able to find a great group of fellow pastors when I am ordained. It's a very important community to have, and I hope I am so blessed.