A Note from Dr. Andy Wolfe
This is a day of new beginnings. A new year brings with it both nostalgia and hope. My iPhone photo app presented me with a series of pictures of the year in review. It was enjoyable to take a look back – at the ground covered, times with family and friends, significant events. Some of those memories are glad, some sad. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul has this to say about the past - “Forget what lies behind…..hold fast to what you have obtained.”
Some things in our past need to be put aside – painful memories, hurts imagined and real. Other things we need to hold fast – new learnings, love shared, conflicts resolved. You got to know when to hold them and know when to fold them…..
But Paul, also says that we are to press on to the high calling that is ours in Jesus Christ. God isn’t finished with us. The future holds forth promise and hope of what yet can be.
Today, I begin a new journey with you. I am honored to be able to serve with you in ministry over the next six months as interim pastor. I have history here! Thirty nine years ago, I stood at the altar of this church beside Dawn Thompson. With Dr. Denson Franklin officiating, we became husband and wife. It was one of the best days of my life. I have you to thank for that. I have known and appreciated your pastors over these past forty years.
And I know your reputation as a church committed to serve Christ in others. I have seen the difference you make in the wider community. I have encountered your members taking servant- leadership roles in countless organizations that do so much good in our area. I have heard people talk about Canterbury as a church that cares, a church that is generous in spirit, a church that changes lives.
As we begin this new year and new season of transition together, I take to heart Paul’s words to hold fast to what we have obtained, and press forward to what lies ahead.
This is a day of new beginnings……hold fast, press forward.
