MY FIRST PASTOR

Today we commissioned our youth director, Anne, a little bit after the fact (she’s been on the job for over six weeks). I got a chance to pray in front of the congregation as all of us elders laid hands on Anne, and I asked God to make our church a place where teens knew we loved God and loved teens. And so may He empower Anne to lead the effort to make our church that kind of church.

I think back to my own teen years, and to Pastor Lo, whose wisdom and availability helped me come to faith. I didn’t grow up in a church, so when my friend Ben invited me to come with him to their Friday night youth group meetings, I was looking for good times and cute girls, not spiritual maturity and Biblical teaching. But God had other plans.

As I heard more of what it meant to be a Christian, and saw it lived out in the lives of the leaders and youth in this church, I began to wonder what it would mean for me to be a Christian. And Pastor Lo guided me through that process. I never felt pressured, nor patronized; I was never meant to feel like an outsider or a project. Rather, Pastor Lo was, well, pastoral. He was patient with my questions and my cluelessness, gentle in his answers and his advice.

It was thirteen years ago that Pastor Lo and I met with my parents to talk about my newfound faith, twelve years ago that he baptized me in front of the congregation. And I must admit I don’t often think about him, or of the gratefulness I ought to have for his time and love. But today, I remember my first pastor, and thank him for his kind pastoring of me into Christian faith and obedience. Pastor Lo, thank you.