Meetings?

I have a side to me where I really do enjoy hanging with friends! I just finished talking with my Starbucks Manager who is a best friend for an hour. Did I have an hour to spend chewing the ‘fat’ not really but it was worth it. I am part of a larger church that has a high view of connectionalism. Yes, this means I have to meet with other pastors, church workers and leaders to go over church business for a larger region a few times a year. I know it is easy for many of us involved to view these meetings or gatherings as a waste of time.

I have been involved in doing church work most of my adult life. I have gone to over 100 meetings like these over the years. I know that at some of these gatherings we will end up arguing about something that seems to be less than important. Other times we will discuss and debate issues that are definitely worthy of our time. I drove to Tucson on Thursday to be part of this type of meeting.

I woke up yesterday with my flu bug still residing in my lungs and head. I had cancelled an appointment the day before with someone that was going to do video because I didn’t have a voice. So I changed it to before this church meeting. We met at 7am at another Starbucks. I talked with this video guy for about an hour before we started to tape an interview. My throat was sore and my voice was almost non-existent. Yet, we did the interview over a half an hour and it went well even with a croaky voice.

I drove in the rain to Tucson and got to a meeting about an hour late. I was concerned about being late but it turned out to be perfectly fine. I had a close friend who is involved with New City – Barrio decide to come to the meeting. He showed up just as we were pulling back into the parking lot after our lunch. I didn’t feel too great and wondered whether I should stay. I was jazzed to see a few friends I hadn’t seen in over a year or so.

As the meeting gets started it usually has official business that has to be reviewed. We have a few pastors from the area that are outside of our network share briefly about the work that they are doing and bring greetings. About an hour into the meeting the format then changes to spending an hour with 3 other guys to listen and pray for each other. This was the highlight of the meeting for me! It was a breath of fresh air to just listen to Dave, Mark and Matt share their stories along with me. We genuinely cared for each other and then prayed. We didn’t rush and everyone had plenty of time to just talk about their present circumstances.

I have to admit that after our guy prayer time together I still had a croaky voice and a cold but my spirit was uplifted and ready for the next 4 hours of reports. Some of the meeting is just listening to someone give an overview of their ministry or details about church protocol. I was fortunate to have my friend come so he could update the group about the work we do in South Phoenix with New City – Barrio Nuevo.

As I drove home my attitude changed towards this types of meetings. I don’t want to view them as a necessary evil but as a time of great friendship building and truly caring for one another. It isn’t easy for pastors or church leaders to open up and be honest and transparent about their lives or their work. So I came home refreshed even after a 2-hour drive in the rain.  I was thankful to have been able to attend whether or not I felt 100%.