Today was my chaplain's last day with us...
He's retiring after fourteen years here at Sullivan, and after 25 years as a New York State employee.
His departure will leave a gaping hole in our leadership, which I am confident the Lord will somehow fill, either by allowing a new chaplain to be assigned here, or by making a way for our services and Bible studies to continue without one.
Today was also our Christmas Eve service. However, this is not Christmas Eve. Scheduling concerns caused prison officials to move it forward by a day. In addition, our service was from 10:30 to 11:30 in the morning, and not in the evening at all.
As for the service itself, it was nice but uneventful. Had my chaplain not taken about ten to fifteen minutes in his message to tell us why he opted to retire now, one would not know this was to be his last day here.
Then, after the service was done, as expected, the pulpit was mobbed by well-wishers who wanted to shake the chaplain's hand and say their goodbyes. So I purposely stayed at the rear of the crowd in order to, hopefully, get to spend an extra minute or two with him. I was not disappointed.
Sure enough, as each man filtered out the chapel's door into the hallway, as the last man, he allowed me to follow him into his office as he gathered his coat and a bag full of items he was taking with him.
I got to personally thank my chaplain and pastor for the many years of service he rendered to the congregation, and for the times he provided me with wise counsel. While I didn't see eye-to-eye with him about every decision he made concerning the church, I hope he realized that I still submitted myself to his leadership, even if I sometimes had to grit my teeth and keep my mouth shut. Hey, I'm not an angel! But I did submit nonetheless because this is what the Bible says to do.
I'm sure he noticed, as well, how choked up I was getting as we spoke. I'm a very emotional person, and it's easy for me to get teary-eyed. Having to say goodbye to a friend and fellow minister is a difficult thing to do.
We gave each other a firm handshake as I promised to remember both he and his family in my prayers. And with this said, I turned and walked out the door of his office. I won't see him again until we get to heaven.
D.B.
His departure will leave a gaping hole in our leadership, which I am confident the Lord will somehow fill, either by allowing a new chaplain to be assigned here, or by making a way for our services and Bible studies to continue without one.
Today was also our Christmas Eve service. However, this is not Christmas Eve. Scheduling concerns caused prison officials to move it forward by a day. In addition, our service was from 10:30 to 11:30 in the morning, and not in the evening at all.
As for the service itself, it was nice but uneventful. Had my chaplain not taken about ten to fifteen minutes in his message to tell us why he opted to retire now, one would not know this was to be his last day here.
Then, after the service was done, as expected, the pulpit was mobbed by well-wishers who wanted to shake the chaplain's hand and say their goodbyes. So I purposely stayed at the rear of the crowd in order to, hopefully, get to spend an extra minute or two with him. I was not disappointed.
Sure enough, as each man filtered out the chapel's door into the hallway, as the last man, he allowed me to follow him into his office as he gathered his coat and a bag full of items he was taking with him.
I got to personally thank my chaplain and pastor for the many years of service he rendered to the congregation, and for the times he provided me with wise counsel. While I didn't see eye-to-eye with him about every decision he made concerning the church, I hope he realized that I still submitted myself to his leadership, even if I sometimes had to grit my teeth and keep my mouth shut. Hey, I'm not an angel! But I did submit nonetheless because this is what the Bible says to do.
I'm sure he noticed, as well, how choked up I was getting as we spoke. I'm a very emotional person, and it's easy for me to get teary-eyed. Having to say goodbye to a friend and fellow minister is a difficult thing to do.
We gave each other a firm handshake as I promised to remember both he and his family in my prayers. And with this said, I turned and walked out the door of his office. I won't see him again until we get to heaven.
D.B.
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