Thanksgiving week is now in full swing. Our weather may not reflect the calendar but it looks like we will get a bit chilled by the end of the week. Our school is on a fall break this entire week. Tomorrow will be a day for my youngest and I to run errands in town. We will go by the clinic for my lab work along with cleaning my thing implanted in my chest. Neither one is really painful but both are part of the process of being a good patient. Other errands will surely come up as my son considers what he and dad can do while out. My daughter and I went this afternoon to the movies. Our tradition of seeing certain movies continues. One of my great pleasures as a dad is going with her on outings. We started this during her very first year with no end in sight.

This evening was our annual community Thanksgiving service. We had the honor of hosting it this year. It is always a good thing to see members of our churches in one setting for worship. Food was plentiful after the service so everyone had the chance to fill their stomach. I probably attended over twenty such events over the years. Some of them were wonderful gatherings among the community. However, sometimes the outcome does not match the expectation. My hope is that those who came this evening were able to sense God's presence. Being with people of other denominations is a good thing. Most of my experiences with other congregations in my area are positive ones. On rare occasions there may be some interaction that fell short of positive for whatever reason. I still look forward to the times when I can get together with other ministers.

Here is another suggestion for me to make to young ministers. Never miss the opportunity to get together with people from other churches even if they may be much different than you. Some of the best learning experiences take place when you step out of your usual norm. You may have to hold back on some personal preferences but genuine dialogue is always a plus. My experience contains encounters in various ways with people from most if not all of our major denominations. I shared in leading weddings with both Episcopal and Catholic ministers. Seems like I delivered sermons in churches of all kinds. Funerals are often moments when you share with people of all theological persuasion. These are all fond memories for me. Ministry with all types of believers makes us stronger in my opinion.

It appears that young ministers are not so hesitant in doing this. What I hear from them is that as long as someone is doing Kingdom work that they have no qualms joining together. My prayer would be for them to remain open to this behavior. We are all in this together. Being a help to one another is a far better use of our time and energy than being critical of each other. Just live to learn so you will remember there is more than one way to do the business of the church.

Bro. Trey