A couple days ago, I officially passed the three-month mark at my new ministry. In many ways, it feels like I have been here longer, but in other ways, I still feel very new. For those who have made transitions in ministry, you probably know exactly what I am talking about.
Today’s blog post isn’t too mind-blowing. I just thought I would list a few observations from my first three months (in no particular order).
- Being new sounds exciting, but it gets old really quick. There is so much I do not know about my new church and community.
- I am realizing a new growth area for myself: patience with myself. I keep having to remind myself that it’s only been three months.
- There are a lot more meetings at larger churches. Sometimes, I have days with nothing but meetings, and I long to get back to actually doing ministry instead of just talking about it all day.
- I have a lot to still learn about having a paid staff. I’ll eventually be hiring more people, too, which means even more to learn.
- I am grateful that all of my experience thus far had been at smaller churches, where I learned a lot of how to do what is needed to make the ministry happen. But I am sure I have stepped on some toes here, because I am so used to doing it all myself.
- It is much more difficult to “rebuild an airplane in the air.” It would have been much easier to start from scratch, as I did at my last church.
- I have a hard time with time zones. I keep adding two hours from the Eastern Time Zone instead of subtracting two hours. I’ve missed at least three phone calls so far because of this.
- I never get tired of looking/staring at the Rocky Mountains!
I’m sure I will learn much more over the next few months and years. This has already been a great time of stretching, challenging, and growing for me, and I am very grateful that God is not done with me yet!!
Steve Cullum 