Mentor

This past week my family and I spent time going back to where we lived for 23 years, Pennsylvania. We lived there while growing into a family of five. Then, after a 10-year hiatus working for a church in Florida, Beckie and I moved back to Pennsylvania for another 7 years. So, a lot of our time as a family is caught in the community, nature, lifestyle, and seasons of being just 30 minutes to an hour outside of Philadelphia. As most of you know, we went back there to celebrate the life of the man who was our pastor, as well as my head of staff and mentor as I began a life in ministry, Dick Streeter. There are a number of things I wouldn’t do, that Dick did with abandon. I learned that he would come into my office and announce that he wanted something done in my area of the church in a specific way. It didn’t matter to him that it might screw up what I was already planning. I learned not to argue, to incorporate it as quickly as possible, and that, then, he wouldn’t show up again with another demand for months. He and I were very different people, and that led to conflict as well as collaboration. I learned a lot from him and much of it came down to the courage to be disliked. Dick was a man who wasn’t afraid to have people angry with him. He didn’t shy away from saying controversial thoughts from the pulpit. He didn’t worry over challenging people to their faces to make better choices in life. He was fiercely loyal, warmly welcoming, and knew how to rejoice and mourn with a whole heart. The courage to be disliked doesn’t require meanness or a shallow perspective on others. It mostly requires assurance on what’s most important, and seeking after that with confidence. Dick knew that following Jesus was most important and that he wasn’t Jesus. As Christians, we rejoice in the lives of those who lead us to know God better, and that’s time well spent. Dick did that through his faults, his triumphs, and his extravagances. I will always treasure the fact that we were invited to walk together for a while. Blessings, Geoff