So this is that interim thing I've heard about

It's been three weeks since my last blog entry, and as if that weren't embarrassing enough, nothing especially remarkable has happened in all that time. Well, I did make it through midterms and even finished my songwriting project for my class on the book of Acts. And there was an announcement that there's going to be a new "X-Files" movie, which Tracy and I are both excited about. And I grew my beard back. And the Packers are somehow 8-1. So I guess some stuff has happened. But nothing earth-shaking enough for me to climb out of my pile of coursework and finally get back on the blogwagon.

There has been one pretty significant happening. Pastor Dick retired. Dick Carlson (that's him in the collar) has been my Teaching Parish supervisor and essentially our pastor since shortly after Tracy and I moved to the Twin Cities. I can't say he's my all-time favorite pastor since I'm kind of biased toward my dad, but he's pretty close. He retired on Reformation Sunday after 11 years at Galilee Evangelical Lutheran Church in Roseville, Minn., at age 70. He became a pastor relatively late in life, on the heels of a career with the YMCA, and proved that God can do great work through a pastor at any age.

I really miss him. And it's kind of a weird feeling because I've never had a pastor leave my church before — I had, after all, always gone with my dad. This is my first exposure to the ins and outs of the whole interim pastor and call committee experience, and it's probably a really good thing for me to see. Plus, it's challenging me and surely many others at Galilee to get more involved. Most notably, I agreed to teach the entire class of confirmation students (all six of them) last week and this week, whereas I normally work one-on-one with a student. I had forgotten that teaching more than one student at a time is actually a lot more difficult. I also did the children's sermon on Sunday and in short order had a preschooler trash-talking at me for bringing a Packers hat as an illustration. Sheesh.

Even in these little tasks in a small church, it's becoming clear how much a pastor does for a community. And things aren't quite the same without Pastor Dick's infectious friendliness and gentle leadership. But the interim pastor is starting this week, and the people seem to be pulling together really well. It's a pretty exciting process, and I'm looking forward to what's to come.

I'm also really looking forward to rubbing the 34-0 outcome of the Packers-Vikings game in that kid's face next Sunday.