Stepping Back Into Ministry

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

September was not the month I expected it to be. As many of you already know, I’ve been on leave for the last few weeks to be with my father and family through his hospitalization and as we grieve his sudden and traumatic death. I have missed you all these last few weeks, and I still can’t tell you how thankful I am for your prayers, your cards, your support, and your leadership while I’ve been away.

Today marks my first day back to Bethany, and I hope you can all understand that I won’t be back to my full “rainbows and sunshine” self quite yet. Truthfully, I still tear up easily, tire quickly, and am continuing to care for myself and my family as we process and mourn.

During this time, I am so grateful to be your pastor in whatever way I am able. For me that means experiencing God’s grace and love through preaching and our worship together. I’ll be getting caught up on administrative duties. And I’m looking forward to sharing in God’s presence with all of you.

It might mean that I’m not able to be at every meeting, and I may need to work from home more than I usually do for a while.  Unfortunately some of the new projects I have been working on like the Ephesians study, lay pastoral care training, and book club, will be postponed, but they’ll be rescheduled soon.

Three Things

Dear siblings in Christ, many of you have asked how you can support me through this sadness, and I request just three things from you:

Patience, for me and my family as we wade through these waters together and as I step my feet back into ministry. Gentleness, with conversations and questions as I may not be ready or able to share details or information about these last few weeks in our family. And finally, the greatest support you can offer to me and our family is your prayers.

More than anything, I give thanks to God for each of you, for the ministry of Christ we carry out together, and for the amazing love each of you share.

Thanks & blessings,

Pastor Megan Filer