So this is my last newsletter article for our Temple Bells Newsletter. And just now, as I wrote that it occurred to me that when I first arrived here and heard about the Newsletter I asked why it was called ‘Temple Bells’ and it turns out that in the long history of our church, at one time our church was located where Macy’s is downtown and its name was White Temple and so the name Temple Bells for the newsletter. I don’t know if that church had a bell or if they rang it but the name obviously stuck.
And as I’m remembering and reflecting about my time with you and as I’ve been trying to help lead you in thinking about your new future God is leading you to, I’m torn between wanting to give you advice like in Hamlet when Polonius is giving advice to his son Laertes, or to be like Moses as the people of Israel prepare to enter into the Promised Land because he’s not going with them and he wants to make sure they’re ready, that they are prepared, that they will remember to be faithful and obedient to God.
Well, I’m not too worried about you staying faithful to God, I know you will, whatever challenges you face (and there are always challenges) I know you will trust in God and follow God’s direction. I don’t know what the challenges will be but I know you will be prepared to meet them because you are faithful and trusting.
I’m told that ministers often move from church to church throughout their calling, but that has not been my case. After I graduated from Seminary I served a church in Louisville where I was blessed to meet, baptize, and marry Diana and then we came here. And when I look back at our 35 year history I see a whole lot more than the great physical additions and renovations, I see a whole lot more than the number of ministries we’ve helped to launch and support from the Easter Seals Early Intervention Center to Adopt A Family to CROS to Chrysalis and Emmaus, and Kairos and Kairos Outside and Family Promise and Celebrate Recovery well you get the idea, but mostly I see you.
For over 35 years we have shared and dreamed and worked and ministered in ways that have had lasting impacts on the lives we’ve touched with God’s grace, but it has been my life that has been touched most of all. You will never know how much your prayers, support, encouragements, and friendship has meant to me, Diana, and my family. We have been truly blessed and it has been an honor and privilege to have served with you. Thank you.
I was blessed to grow up in the church, to have parents who introduced me to Jesus and sought to always support me in my call to ministry. I have been blessed with two wonderful children and a son-in-law who mean the world to me and who absolutely made all the difference in who I’ve grown to be. And most of all I have been blessed beyond belief with a wife, a partner, an anchor and compass who has always been a tower of strength and courage and vision, these past 35 years would never have happened without her.
Finally, to get a bit sentimental as I look back on my time with you, I would quote the last lines from the Broadway Musical Camelot with Richard Burton as King Arthur when he sings, ‘Don’t let it be forgot, That once there was a spot, For one brief shining moment that was known As Camelot.’
God Bless, Donn
Thank you for all you have done and continue to do Donn. You have blessed my family with not just pastoralship, but unconditional love for so many years. You have faithfully served with goodness and grace, in all the many chapters of yours and the churches lives. I will never forget that even on the hardest or busiest of times, my pastor; loved me, knew me, and prayed for me by name.
You have been a blessing to each and every one of us! You have helped us in our time of need and rejoiced with us in our time of joy. You have always supported us and loved us. You have helped us grow in our walk with God and we are so thankful for you and Diana. You have blessed us beyond measure. Thank you for all you have done!