Leon Johnston

Rev. Tamminga,

Thank you for the reminder to care for the single members of our church and community.  I needed to hear this!

Grace & peace,

Leon H. Johnston

Lacombe, AB

Hello Jolanda,

Thank you for this article.  Just what I needed to hear as we begin another season of Sunday School in our local church!  I agree: the best gift we can give our students is a love for God's Word and a transformed self.

Say, we are having a Sunday School kick-off this Sunday.  Do you have any prayers and blessings for such an occasion?

Thank you kindly and God bless!

--Leon H. Johnston

Lacombe, AB

Hi Sam,

Thank you for making us aware of these schools that are devoted to worship training.  I'm curious: are any of the schools of worship you mentioned "Reformed" in their doctrine and worldview?  For what it's worth, two of my wife's nephews have studied at the Bethel School of Worship in CA, and really enjoyed it. 

Peace to you!

--Leon

Hello Rev. Tamminga,

Thank you for writing this essay.  I appreciated the reminder that loneliness shows no favoritism.  And that we all benefit from elder (or pastor) visits.  I feel increasingly called to make more of these visits as a pastor.  And in doing so, I hope to encourage a culture of visiting in my congregation.

Have a blessed Lenten journey,

Leon

Hello Scott,

Thank you for this article.  I also grew up in a non-liturgical ("free") church tradition, which I appreciate.  But in recent years, I've been wanting more--more beauty, more ritual, more depth.  And like you, I'm finding it in the pattern and practices of the Christian year.  The ongoing challenge I have is how to engage my people in these practices.  I'm doing it slowly, trusting that, as James K. A. Smith teaches, they will form us all into more devoted students of Christ.

Have a blessed Lenten journey!

--Leon

Hi Jolanda,

Glad you asked this question, as this is what I'm thinking about tonight!  We plan to have a short commissioning service for Sunday School this Sunday morning, so I was wondering if you had a short litany that we could use as a prayer of invocation and blessing on our children and teachers.  If you have anything on hand, I would really appreciate receiving it. 

Thank you kindly--and may the Lord continue to bless your teaching ministry!

--Leon

Stanley: I appreciate your thoughts re. whom to stay connected with in one church after moving to another.  One experienced colleague said that they've always remained friends with one or two couples, which encourages me that it is healthy to stay somewhat connected with fomer parishioners.  One thing we've certainly learned in this time of transition is that next time we would aim to have at least one month off between churches, to allow for more space for packing, moving, debriefing and preparation for the next chapter of ministry.  Always lots to learn!  The Lord be with you!  Leon

Hi William,

Thanks for responding to my question/concern.  Good for you to try and visit everyone in your congregation before summer.  My approach has been to focus on building relationships with the leadership of this church as that is that one of the areas where I failed in my first charge.  Then I hope to visit all of the various ministries next fall, and then hopefully next winter I'll seek to visit the various families.  May the Lord guide us as we week to begin well!  As for the advice of the Anglican priest that I referred to earlier, I believe what he meant is that the basic pattern for working and relating to each other is established early on in a church.  What I've noticed is that once a precedent is set in a certain area, it is difficult to change it.  So, for example, I'm trying to help this church realize that a good pastor is an unhurried pastor--one who spends "quality" time with the Lord and people.  I guess we'll see if this view takes or not! 

Hi Greg,

Thanks for writing this blog.  I resonate with it.  It is certainly challenging to be pastoral and visionary.  Not sure how to strike a balance here, or if that's even the right approach.  But I do find that spending daily time with the Lord in solitude and silence essential to nourishing my soul and becoming more visionary.  The challenge I have is carving out time for the longer monthly or annual retreat(s), that would allow greater soul refreshment and visioning to occur. 

Again, thank you kindly for writing the article.

--Leon