There have been a few United Methodist pastors who have served in one appointment for a very long time.
I was fortunate to be one of them.
I served the Troy United Methodist Church in Troy, IL for 29 years. I was appointed there in 1988 and retired from there in 2017. I’m grateful to God for the privilege I had of serving that wonderful congregation.
Over the years, I was often asked, “How were you able to stay in one place for that length of time?”
I’m not sure how to fully respond to that question, but I do have some clues that might help explain it. What follows is one of the clues.
When I answered what I discerned to be God’s call on my life to become a pastor, my home church pastor, Rev. Leroy Sanders, gave me some great advice: "Always keep your District Superintendent informed." As a high school student at the time, I wasn’t sure what all that meant, but his advice stuck with me
During my tenure at the Troy United Methodist Church, I served under six District Superintendents. I appreciated the leadership of each one of them. When a new DS was appointed, I called to get an appointment as soon as I could—often within the first few weeks of their assignment.
I invited them to spend some time with me on-site. The plan for the block of time consisted of a tour of the church building and some conversation about the history of the congregation, a tour of the community, lunch (on me!), and a conversation about some of the ministry plans and dreams to reach our region for Christ.
The purpose of all this was for the new DS to know as much as possible (at least during these few hours) about the community, the congregation, the church building and ministry plans. When my District Superintendent sat around the cabinet table at appointment time, I wanted to make sure he/she had some first-hand knowledge – not just reports and “paper knowledge” -- of the Troy United Methodist Church and my leadership of it.
I’m not certain how much of this played into being able to serve long term, but at least I did my best to communicate my passion for ministering to the community of Troy and surrounding region.
When I think of some other clues, I’ll post them here! You can check them out if you are interested.
