“Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in peace!
I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.”
~Gandalf in The Return of the King

Alright listen, if the pope can quote Gandalf in the latest papal encyclical you had better believe it was appropriate for your dear departing pastor to share Gandalf’s tender farewell in my final Thursday Thoughts! Because it’s true—we have come to the end of our fellowship together. It has been a wonderful 9 years of mutual ministry. We might get a little weepy on Sunday, and that’s okay!

Because it is hard to not feel a little nostalgic in moments like this.
That’s just the truth.
In ministry this nostalgia sometimes comes in the form of reflecting on life passages you as a minister have been privileged to witness and help people mark on their own faith journeys.

I think about babies, young people, and adults I have baptized. And the privilege it is to name and claim another beloved child of God and disciple of Christ.
I think about young people we have confirmed in the faith and the blessing it has been to spend time with some of the remarkable young people of our church over the years.
I think about couples whose weddings I have officiated. And the joy on their faces as they promised to love and cherish one another, entering into the covenant of marriage.
I think about funerals, those times when I have looked out upon loved ones grieving and done my best to offer a word of hope.
In my time as your pastor I have preached 412 sermons—Sunday will be lucky 413!
I think about how you as a congregation have shown up on Sunday mornings to worship God in community through personal challenges and triumphs.

So, I thank you.
I thank you for the kind words you have already shared with me in messages and cards and in person.
I thank you for your well wishes for me and my family as we move to a new church in a new community.
And mostly I thank you for these years that we have shared, for allowing me to minister with you and for welcoming me into the community and the congregation and your lives.
I am grateful to have been your pastor.
May God bless you and keep you, always.

Love,
Pastor Lauren

Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash

Thursday Thoughts 6/18/26