Collegiality

The church that I serve is in a rural area. When I say rural, I mean RURAL! We live 5 miles from the closest "town" which mainly consists of a post office, a bar, and a gas station. Which, if you have ever seen the Canadian comedy show "Corner Gas" it really reminds me of that! Anyway, it seems as if our church is in the middle of nowhere sometimes.

With that being said, I am really blessed to live in a part of the country that has a number of churches within our denomination close by, relatively speaking of course. I am blessed by this in a number of ways. First of all, having colleagues close by to bounce ideas off of is helpful. To have people close by to help out when I get busy is also a major plus.

The one thing that I appreciate the most, especially as a young minister, is the fact that we get together once a month with the other pastors and their wives if they are able to join us. It is a great time of refreshment for myself. It is a time to sit and get to know my colleagues, but also to share struggles and joys with each other. We get together and we share with each other and we pray for each other. Yesterday we were able to get together for a BBQ to end our year as we will take a few months off. Even though the weather wasn't conducive for a BBQ, we still had a great time. We had time to laugh, but we also had time to challenge each other. One of the things I appreciate the most is the collegiality that is in the group.

I am richly blessed to be in a place that has such a group. I am thankful to God that he has placed me in an area where this is possible.