I do not often struggle to keep my composure, but this Sunday March 2 was very emotional for me. 

I was blessed to return to Lamont, OK, for the first time in almost 17. I served as the pastor of the Methodist Church in Lamont from 2005-2008.

In conversations with folks there, we realized that it was very close to exactly 20 years ago that I was seated for my first official appointment as a pastor. I was in my final year of seminary. I got married the summer before and we both knew we wanted to return to Oklahoma to serve. 

I flew to Tulsa, borrowed a car from my parents, and drove two hours to Lamont, OK. I served for three years in Lamont before I started working on my PhD.

I learned so much during those three years. And I made a ton of mistakes! Here are a few of them for your reading pleasure:

• I accidentally set the church yard on fire when the basket holding a Tiki Torch burned through and fell onto the ground in the hottest part of summer. Praise God, someone noticed, acted quickly and got it put out. But, to my embarrassment, there was a very visible black burned area in the grass everyone had to walk by on their way into VBS the rest of the week.

• I also preached a six-week sermon series I very creatively titled “Family Matters,” with weeks focusing on things I knew absolutely nothing about from first-hand experience like being a parent or grandparent. Of course, I shared wisdom about marriage from the literally months of experience I had as a husband! (Now, to be fair: I was trying to share wisdom from the Scriptures, not from my own experience. And I believe that preaching from your experience and not Scripture is one of the major mistakes a preacher can make. Nevertheless, that sermon series was probably a bit comical at best, and presumptuous or completely lacking in self-awareness at worst.)

• And to take the cake, I didn’t see Ash Wednesday coming (I know… not that hard to figure out) and realized too late we didn’t have ashes. So, I attempted to make some by using ashes from someone’s fireplace that I mixed with water. (No idea why I didn’t google this.) It turns out that doing that can cause a chemical burn. Immediately after the service, people were talking about how it kind of burned and their foreheads were hot. Someone said, “I must be particularly sinful, because I feel like my head is on fire.” Eventually, it was clear that everyone needed to wipe the ashes off right away. One poor woman still had a red cross on her forehead on Easter Sunday.

Despite these embarrassing mistakes (and many others I won’t share for time and to protect the identities of the innocent), the people at Lamont Methodist loved me so well.

A current student of mine at the Asbury Theological Seminary Tulsa Extension Site is now the pastor of First Church of Lamont (now a Global Methodist Church). When he invited me to come back to preach, I joyfully accepted.

You don’t often have the opportunity to return to a place 17 years later and feel like you are stepping back into time with so much being as it was when you left. There were people missing, which was sad. I knew they wouldn’t be there, but I felt their absence. There were also new people. Boys and girls when I pastored in Lamont had become men and women. Many of them had married and had children.

The parsonage next door looked the same. The sanctuary, the fellowship hall, and the parlor all looked the same – in the best way. And there were so many people I immediately recognized. Seeing many of them brought tears of joy to me eyes.

When worship started, I was just overwhelmed with the kindness of the Lord and the generosity of these people to me. We sang songs I’ve sung in places where the Lord has blessed me since I left Lamont.

I felt so thankful for the church. Thankful that these people have been doing their part to hold ground through a difficult season. Thankful that they made hard and faithful choices. Thankful that they are still moving forward, aware that God is not done with them yet.

I think the main reason I struggled to keep my composure in worship was that the Lord showed me that we ended well in Lamont. I was able to grieve an ending in a way that felt healthy looking back. And the church blessed us and released us as we left. They gave us a lovely clock that we have hung on the wall in every place we’ve lived since. I was able to appreciate the gift the people of Lamont gave us with such a gracious end more now than I could understand then.

To be honest, I’m not sure I said much that was helpful to the folks in worship on Sunday. I hope they saw my emotions as a sign of my love and gratitude for them. And even more, I hope they were able to see that as a tiny reflection of the Father’s perfect love for them. 

‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ – Jeremiah 29:11