Leaving a Foundation, Not a Plaque

Me with Joe French, my planned successor at Mayfair-Plymouth

I’m nearing the end of my time as the pastor of Mayfair-Plymouth Church. In October I’ll be retiring from this phase of my life after 39 years of pastoring the Lord’s flock. I’m thinking about legacy a lot. What do I want to leave behind? 

Yes, I’d like to be remembered fondly, but I’ve determined this is not the best I should hope for. I want to leave a foundation that can be built upon, not a plaque of myself that can be hung up. 

After I’m gone and as time goes by I pray that new people will become a part of the church who never knew me. If I come back for a visit in a couple of years I can imagine them thinking, or saying to someone else, “So, this is the old guy who used to pastor the church.” 

In my wife’s home church in Leota, Minnesota, there’s a row of pictures of the pastors of the church over the years. Each has the pastor’s name and two dates below the picture, the date the pastor came and the date the pastor left, with a dash between. In God’s grand scheme of things we’re each a dash, of varying length, but a dash nevertheless. There are those who came before and, if the Lord tarries in His coming, there will be those who come after us. 

Each of us is like a link in the chain of pastors at the church we now serve. May the Lord help us to be a good link between the past and the future so His kingdom work continues unbroken, and stronger than ever! 

“One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.” (Psalm 145:4)