Dear Friends,
It has been almost 50 years since
I talked with her. She came to our church in Philadelphia as a college student
studying at Earlham College, in Indiana. She was a member of Northwest Youth in
Action, a community outreach ministry that our church had established in an
effort to reach out to our racially changing neighborhood.
In 1970 when I came to the
inner-city church in Philadelphia, God gave me a vision for reaching the
community by serving the community. One of the ways we accomplished this was
establishing a low cost five-week summer camp for children in grades 5-12. The
camp grew from 100 children the first year to a camp with over 550 children,
including a special needs camp for children with disabilities. The camp was
named "Northwest Youth in Action," and was led by a staff of some
seminary, college, and high school students, who together with a large number
of volunteers from the church, were responsible for driving buses, teaching
classes, coaching sports, leading worship, making lunches and above all loving
on the children of that community.
Our philosophy was to get the
community into the church by getting the church into the community. The program
expanded to include evangelistic evening lawn services, a basketball league and
a summer employment program where we helped connect area youth with
summer employment.
Two days ago, I talked with
Kathryn Joyner, one of those former staff members. It was the first time we had
talked in almost 50 years. She is now retired and living with her adopted
daughter in Richmond Indiana.
Being thrust into an inner
city inter racial ministry was an eye-opening experience for her. Coming from a
small rural town in Indiana, she had never been to a major city before, but she
quickly adapted to urban ministry and became one of the most valuable members
on our team.
It was such a blessing to
reminisce on the phone as we discussed her two-year summer involvement and how
that experience shaped and impacted her life and ministry.
Immediately after hanging up
the phone following our 45-minute conversation, I was overcome with gratitude
for the many relationships that were forged and fashioned during that inner
city ministry.
There are few things that
forge greater friendships than sharing in a common ministry, and those
friendships transcend both time and distance.
Yes, even though Kathryn and hadn’t
talked since the 70’s, our relationship was still intact, and the friendship we
established during those two years she served with our church was as strong as
it was the day she left to return home to college.
Friendships are not a luxury;
they are a necessity, and the more friends you have, the happier we will be.
This is especially true for pastors.
A number of years ago, the
Lilly Endowment invested $ 84 million over 10 years to study what makes
for excellence in ministry. One of their interesting discoveries was that
“pastors need real, intimate, vulnerable friendships, if they are going to last
in ministry; relationships with peers are the key factor to pastoral longevity”
(Desiring God,” Pastors Need Friends Too, Feb. 10, 2018 taken from the
Internet).
I can personally attest to the
truth of these findings after serving 7 churches, some a second time. As the
song says, "People, and yes pastors who need people, are the luckiest
people in the world."
It has been said that "God
has given us memories, so that we might smell the roses in December,” and how
grateful I am for the many wonderful memories I have of friends I’ve gathered
along my spiritual journey.
One of my favorite classic
country songs is “Unfair Weather Friends” by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson.
It is one of the greatest friendship songs you will ever hear. If you go to U
tube you will hear the two of them singing these words:
“I might wind up stuck
out on some old forgotten highway
Somehow, you’ll show up
and sure enough be going’ my way
You’re always there,
right where you’ve always been.
I don’t have to wonder
where’ll you’ll be if I should need you
All I have to do is
close my eyes and I can see you
Always there, right
where you’ve always been
My come whatever,
unfair weather friend.”
I know you probably have a lot
of those “unfair weather friends” in your memory bank.
Why not take a moment to ask
God to bring some of those friends to mind and grab the phone or grasp a pen
and let them know how much you love them and how much they mean to you.
I promise that you will be
glad you did, and so will those you contact because there is nothing like
seeing the face or hearing the voice of one of those many “unfair weather
friends.”
Yours in faith and friendship,
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