Your Favorite Verse

At yesterday's West Ohio annual clergy session, the names of twenty-nine clergy members who are retiring this year were read. Over my years of ministry at these annual meetings, there has been a number of ways that the retirement class has been acknowledged.

When I first came to the conference in the late 80's, each newly retired clergy member for that year was given an opportunity to speak about an experience or two or three at the podium. This was one of my favorite parts of Annual Conference, to hear heart-felt real life pastoral ministry stories as well as humorous stories about pastoral ministry. It almost felt like comedy club night in a good way. This all ended one year when one of the retired clergy said some inappropriate things at the podium and for the next several years, they had two designated members of the retirement class share prepared speeches.

For some other years, each newly retired clergy would walk across a make-shift bridge as their names were read to symbolize this new transition in their lives (from active pastoral ministry into retired ministry.)

Yesterday, we tried out a new way of acknowledging our retired clergy by inviting each one to come to a microphone as their names were read and they took turns reading a bible verse that has meant a lot to them during their pastoral ministry. This ended up being a very powerful and meaningful experience to hear the verses that were chosen. As the verses were read, I couldn't help but to wonder what experiences in pastoral ministry led the person to share a particular verse.

One of the repeated verses I heard was Romans 8:28 - "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose."

As I heard this verse read more than a few times, I thought about the collective wisdom of these newly retired clergy and how they have learned over the years to trust in God's faithfulness especially when going through experiences of doubt, uncertainty, and heartache.

At the end of the sharing of bible verses, I was thinking that it would be nice to hear church members share their favorite bible verses. Just hearing those verses, lifted my spirit and reminded me of how the scriptures are an important "means of grace," as we go through life's experiences.

What verse would you choose?