Goodbye Fruitvale Church

Today was the last Sunday that I served as pastor of Fruitvale Presbyterian Church. We gathered for a service of celebration, celebrating the past, giving thanks for today and hintingly pointing towards the future.  Several members gave personal reflections about the past seven years together.

I've been wondering the past weeks about what to say at this last Sunday gathering together.  How do you sum up so many times, so many events, conversations, words exchanged, words received?  How do you reflect upon the meaning of and the meaning-making experiences of community, including both the good and the bad, the encouraging and the existentially challenging?

I chose to attempt to sing a song that makes great meaning for me: "For Good" from the musical  Wicked.  Realizing that I can't quite sing the octave range that Kristin Chenoweth can, I opted to simply quote the lyrics of the song: "Because of you, I have been changed for good." [the whole song is below]

In the end isn't the unequivocable truth of human existence the paradox of mutuality?  We're inter-twined, inter-connected, inter-dependent.  I think that is what in large part the Christian faith points to, invites us to live, and challenges us to embrace.