THE VICAR'S VOICE / Leland B. Jones
Living in God’s Time

In 1984 I was called as rector of a large congregation in Santa Clara and was asked to visit with the bishop of the diocese as a necessary part of the process. He asked me a question that made me take a long hard look at the situation and decide to decline the call. By that time I had been curate for three years at Christ Church of the Ascension in Paradise Valley, Ariz. (Barry Goldwater’s church!), rector for five years at St. Stephen’s in Phoenix and rector for four years at Church of the Good Shepherd in Hemet. What the Bishop asked was simply, "Do you have resources for more than three to five years worth of ministry ?" He stated that lots of clergy could (and did) do ministry for 3+ years and then move to another venue and do the same again. His premise was that one needed to stay longer in order to allow God to stretch (and tug and pull) one toward more growth and development.

I returned to Good Shepherd and added nearly five years to my tenure before coming to Saint Andrew’s in 1989. Now, nearing ten years here—and with the 25th anniversary of my ordination to priesthood right around the corner—I do wonder what the future holds. Look around for one more cure before retirement? Stay here and retire early? Put my resume out and see what happens? Become a worker-priest and develop a second career? I don’t know the answers to any of those questions this week, but I do know the wisdom and the blessings of staying in a place for more than a few years........the pleasure of seeing God work in God’s time!

As an example, I recently spoke with a relatively new attender of Saint Andrew’s who wondered about helping to start a support group for those struggling with mental illness in their families. We negotiated a possible time and spoke in generalities about the need for such a group and the reality of denial and shame which holds folks back from seeking assistance. Not more than 45 minutes later, I had occasion to visit with someone I’d met four years ago at a wedding here, who was asking if we knew of any kind of help for people dealing with mental illness in their families! What a God-incident that was! Being able to not only share prayer and promise clergy support, but to also honestly say, "We’re working on starting a support group right now," was such a gift to him and to me.

God allows us the time to move slowly and to put our support deep into the bedrock of experience, time and knowledge; the benefit of staying around long enough to see some of what was being planned from the very beginning come to fruition is wonderful. But we also get to the place where we have to move—now!—because "when the Spirit says move, you gotta move."

God’s blessing be on those who stay and upon those who move—and even more on those who stay and move!

The Rev. Leland B. Jones is vicar of Saint Andrew’s. His e-mail address is lelanjones@aol.com.