Up, Up, and Away

I haven't posted anything lately because I wanted to let everyone catch up with the news about Joel and Shafali. If you haven't read about it, look at the post below.

I got an email last week from someone in the administration of the School of Theology here at Fuller. They wanted to know if I would want to teach what is called a Preaching Practicum during the Spring Quarter. As you might suspect, I was excited. Well, today I found out they want me to teach two sections of the Preaching Practicum and that will mean I will be hired as an Adjunct Faculty. They also inquired about my availability for the summer and that they may want me to do several intensives during the summer. The Practicums are much like the small group experiences that I am currently doing as a TA for Homiletics Class. However, it looks much better on your resume to put you were an Adjunct Faculty at Fuller than just being a TA. The woman with whom I spoke told me I had been enthusiastically recommended by the preaching faculty. How nice is that to hear?
We also received in the mail a notice of a reception following the service Sunday at the Santa Ana Church. We knew about this because the patriarch of the church , Rev. Al Shackleton, is having an 89th birthday party. What we didn't know until we got the notice was that the dinner and reception is being given in our honor as well. It seems that they consider us their new pastors. In reality, I am only an interim pastor but it is a long term situation for us. The nice part about it is that we have a lot of freedom in the situation and very little responsibility for the leadership/administration of the church. Considering my situation at seminary, it is a real blessing not to have any greater responsibility than preaching on Sunday morning.
Somehow, this seems like the best kind of combinations for me. I continue to learn about the whole history and philosophy of preaching while still practicing the craft on a weekly basis. It makes sense to me to be both a teacher and a practitioner of the craft. So, here we go. I am on the track to becoming a professor even as I learn how to be a scholar in the area of homiletics. If this is liftoff, then I am up, up, and away. I don't know where this journey will end, but I can see now that it is off the ground and pointed in the right direction.
May your know that you, too, are on a journey. You may be coming in for a landing or orbiting around; you could be lifting off the pad or on your way to a specific destination. Wherever you are, know that the journey, like the ministry of Jesus, is in process and it will continue long after your journey comes to an end. It keeps going, even after you and I go "up, up, and away".