Thank You, Dan

Today was a day I'm not sure I ever really expected to see, and as I reflect on it, I do so with very mixed feelings. The senior pastor at Bethany Presbyterian in Seattle, where I'm a member and "under care" (basically it's a way of saying Bethany is my home church throughout the ordination process), Dan Baumgartner, preached during Sunday morning worship there for the last time this morning. Dan has taken a call to be the pastor here in LA, at Hollywood Presbyterian. After eleven years of ministry at Bethany, he's saying goodbye, responding to a very clear call from God, that his gifts need to be used elsewhere for the time being. Knowing what I know of Hollywood's history, it makes perfect sense to me, Dan is the perfect pastor for that hurting congregation, and I can't wait to see what kind of ministry will continue happening there. But that doesn't make the goodbyes for Bethany any easier. I can't even begin to describe what Dan and Anne mean to this congregation, what an incredible pastor he is. As a seminary student, I've had the opportunity to get to know many pastors in many contexts, but I've never met anyone like Dan. He truly has shaped what I understand the role of the Pastor to be, in some ways contradicting my seminary professors a little, which I am grateful for.

We hear over and over again in seminary that we have to be "relevant" to bring Jesus to people who don't yet know him. In some ways maybe this is true, but from my perspective Dan brought Jesus to a lot of people who did not know him, and he did so in a way that I'm sure many "church growth experts" would say was not "strategic, hip, or relevant." I always thought that to be an effective pastor you have to be a flaming extrovert, charismatic in personality and dramatic in preaching. Well, watching Dan has taught me differently. He loves people, but he's a bit more introverted. Dan doesn't preach "topical" sermons with catchy titles while wearing jeans and bouncing around a "stage". Rather he reverently climbs into a pulpit in a coat and tie, sometimes even his clerical robe week after week. He doesn't use power point, video clips, or even have a screen anywhere in the sanctuary to project words of the scripture passages on to, instead he asks people to pick up the bible in the pew in front of them and actually open to the passage he's reading from. Instead of music videos and flashy illustrations, he thoughtfully crafts beautiful sermons full of illustrations from great literature and conversations with real people he's encountered. Every Wednesday night Bethany opens the doors of their fellowship hall to anyone in the community who needs a warm meal and place to sit for a couple hours. No bible study or other such requirements are imposed on them, all they need to do is show up. Dan is present almost always, and I bet he knows the name of most of the homeless men and women who arrive week after week. The stories he has shared of individuals coming to know Christ, individuals he's had the pleasure of baptizing as a result of meeting them off the streets at this Wednesday Night Dinner, even performing a few funerals for some who didn't survive life on the streets are incredible. He's taught me that to be the pastor of the church really means you are the pastor to that community, even to the people who only show up for free food. You sit with them, ask to hear their stories, share a meal, and over the course of years you are granted the privilege of walking with them as they come to know Jesus.

He said recently in a sermon that statistics have shown that people only have a few main ideas in life, and that almost all of what we say somehow connects to one of these main themes. He was reflecting on some of his main themes, that he's preached over and over again in various ways, messages which truly have sunk deeply into my heart and mind as I begin this journey into ministry. These are some of the "Dan-isms" that I will always hold on to--words of wisdom that I know have helped make me the person I am today:

• Pay attention...watch for God, you never know where you will see Him.
• There is a huge difference between going to church and being the church.
• Life following Christ will look different--once we've encountered Jesus things will change.
  
• Living in tension is usually healthy.
• God loves you immensely, and we see that most clearly reflected in Jesus.
• The Sabbath is God's gift to you, we are a culture that has forgotten that. Somehow we have to reclaim the Sabbath.
  
• We are trying to point people to Jesus, or at least not get in the way.
• Always read good books. (Dan is a voracious reader of almost anything, and started a quarterly book club at Bethany inviting people to join him in reading many of the classics, some theology, but many fiction books where images of truth, love, and faith appear).

Back in May I had the opportunity to spend a couple hours with him one on one, driving back from a meeting. I had the chance to pick his brain about ministry, and those two hours are one of the most cherished conversations I've ever had with someone. Here was his advice to me, as a new pastor:

• "Sarah, always preach scripture, preach Jesus, and you will never run out of sermon topics."
• "It is important to set some boundaries, to create time for your family, but remember too, the call to ministry is a call to give your life away. You need to find the balance, if your boundaries are too rigid, you'll miss some incredible opportunities."
• "When you feel that nudge, that inkling that 'I should call this person,' or 'so and so just had a baby, who is healthy and everything is fine, but I should drop by just to say hi and meet the newborn,' always always pay attention to that feeling. Some of the most powerful times of ministry have happened because I just stopped by the hospital to see the new baby."
  
• "Worry about being authentic, that's what makes you relevant, not how many video clips you can pack into a sermon."
• "Your first job needs to be beginning to train your elders. They are there as the spiritual leaders of the church, to seek God on behalf of the church. They aren't there as a business committee. Get rid of the tables they sit around and put them in a circle of chairs facing one another. Lead them in worship, lead them in deep prayer, set the example that you care more about following Jesus than you do about growing your church by a certain percentage."
  

Dan has taught me more than I could ever express over the years. I know Bethany will be fine as they transition a new pastor into the pulpit over the course of the next year or so. And I know I'll still cross paths with Dan at various Presbyterian events. But even so, I still grieve a little from afar, knowing how much he has loved that church and community. Thank you, Dan, for always walking closely with Jesus. And for encouraging the rest of us to do the same.