Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

The change in seasons always comes as a bit of a surprise. I know it happens every year, but having lived in Texas for so long where fall isn’t all that different from summer, I never really expect the weather to actually change. But then it does.

“Leadership is for a season,” I heard a priest say recently. I’ve been thinking about this topic since I decided to step off my church’s leadership team. I enjoyed being part of it for two years, but now I want to focus on other things. I’m feeling a little over-churched (having a job in the church, too).

At various times I have been under the illusion that something that works should work forever. I’m always surprised when a to-do app that was really helpful suddenly ceases to meet my needs, or something I used to enjoy becomes a chore.

This shouldn’t be surprising. As the seasons of life change—you get a new job, you get married, you simply get older—some of the things that once worked don’t seem to work anymore.

So I need to structure my time differently, or ignore my to-do lists for a while, or pull back on my involvement in church for a time.

Jesus said, “Consider the lilies of the field.” The lilies don’t worry. They don’t have to-do lists. They live by the seasons.

Well, whenever I hear this, I can’t help but think that lilies don’t have to get much done except convert sunlight into food and occasionally bloom. But I guess Jesus was reminding us that we are not totally in control, however much we like to pretend otherwise.

We are subject to the seasons of change that are an inevitable and necessary part of personal and communal life. In our churches, in our own lives, from time to time change will come—we’ll move, or the rector will retire, or we’ll just want to try some new ministry—and we’ll have to reorient ourselves, rethink what works, and prepare for a new season.