The very first church that I served as a pastor was Lake Brady United Methodist Church.  I graduated from seminary in May of 1984 and started as the pastor of this church on July 1.  I was 24 years old at the time.  With my newly minted degree, I looked forward to changing the world through my service to this church.

I served at Lake Brady for five years and it was a good place to be a pastor.  The Lake Brady congregation was one of those churches that helped train new pastors.  They were loving, accepting, and trying hard to follow Jesus every day.  Because it was a small church, I preached, led worship, prepared the bulletins, and led Bible Studies.  Tom and I led a wonderful youth group that met in the parsonage living room because AA met in the church on Sunday evenings.

During my years at Lake Brady, I learned a lot about being a pastor.  I learned to speak the language of the people in the congregation (instead of the language of academia).  I learned to do funerals and weddings and balance a budget.  The congregation cared for me as I struggled through infertility.  When our son John was born, we gave him the middle name of Brady after this wonderful, faithful group of people.

It has been forty years since I started my ministry at Lake Brady United Methodist Church and I had only been back to the church once.  In fact, I was there for the 100th anniversary 25 years ago.  So I was excited to get an invitation in the mail for the 125th anniversary celebration.  The invitation didn’t have many details:  just date, time, and how to RSVP.  Tom and I immediately marked it on the calendar.

The 125th anniversary celebration was Saturday, October 26 at 1 p.m.  Most churches would have such a celebration on a Sunday, but these thoughtful folks wanted people from out of town to be able to attend.  They also invited all the previous pastors who are still living.

It was a beautiful day for a celebration.  About 60 people attended.  Quite a few of them were ones who had been there when I was the pastor.  Tom and I had plenty of people to talk to and share memories with.  Tracy Rydbom Monroe was one of the youth.  Sharon and Denny Neff and Cliff Bliss were parents of some of those teenagers.  Cliff and his wife, Mary Jane, were two of our closest friends at the church and kept us moving in the right direction.  Paul Meduri was there, one of the members who entered the ministry while I served.  Paul is filling in as a preacher at the church until a new pastor is appointed.

Rick and Vicki Lynn Phillips are still active members of the congregation.  Vicki was John’s babysitter from his birth until he went to kindergarten and has remained a good friend.  Caleb Fresch, who was just a little squirt when I was the pastor, still attends the church with his wife Candy and their two children. Caleb told me I was the first pastor he could remember.  His father, Dick Fresch, was a regular at my Bible Studies and he attended the celebration.  It was wonderful to catch up with these dear friends.

Everyone was having such a good time talking to each other that they had a hard time getting the program part of the celebration started.  Instead of going over the history of the church, they asked people to share memories.  Lots of names of saints that have gone on were mentioned.  Four previous pastors attended and, of course, we all had to say something.  I was the oldest pastor there!  How does that happen?

After an hour of sharing memories, we headed downstairs for refreshments.  There was a cake and so many great desserts.  And, of course, lots more time to share memories and talk to folks.

The outside of the church looks just like it did when I served.  Inside, the church is different mostly because of working to make the church handicapped accessible.  There is an additional parking lot on one side of the church that was not there when I was the pastor.  Despite the physical changes, there was the same warm and loving atmosphere inside the church.  Lake Brady was a church that accepted people where they were and they are continuing that ministry.  And, 40 years after I started, they still have the same picture of Jesus hanging behind the pulpit.

I am thankful for this faithful church and the people who work to keep it going.  They were instrumental in molding my ministry and have touched the lives of so many in the community.  I pray that it will still be serving Jesus 125 years from now.