Called by God and gifted for ministry, for seventeen of the past twenty years, in two different dioceses, I have served as the appointed leader of Roman Catholic parishes. In my religious tradition, the title "Pastor" is reserved for a priest, but "pastor" is my job description. In June of 2011, the end of my final term in my present assignment, I will transition to a new ministry site. Before doing so, I propose spending twelve weeks reflecting, renewing, and re-focusing myself to gracefully take my leave of one church and embrace the challenge of pastoring a new, certainly more complex, parish. During this time, I would like to:
- experience the missionary church in a developing nation, specifically Tanzania, where priests are few and lay ministers carry significant responsibility;
- make a thirty day Ignatian retreat to pray and reflect on God's action in my life and to what I am being called next;
- work with a trainer to find an exercise routine - kind to my arthritic knees - that I can do to improve my health for life and ministry; and
- spend substantial time reflecting and writing about my experiences pastoring in the Roman Catholic Church.