Annual Report 2023-2024-DIGITAL - Flipbook - Page 9
The TiM Program Serves the Wider Church:
An alarming number of new pastors burn out in their first five
years. As I wrap up my first year in full-time ministry, I am
beginning to understand why. There is no way for divinity
schools to adequately prepare us for what it means to serve a
congregation. My first year has included surprises, challenges,
stress, and plenty of tears. But because this is a temporary
residency, and because Plymouth is accustomed to offering grace
and space to our TiMs, these challenges are softened. And when
I go to my next call, I will be more prepared to deal with them.
God-willing, this will prevent me from burning out in five years,
and enable me to continue serving the wider church, which has a
shortage of pastors in almost every denomination.
The TiM Program Serves New Pastors:
I have really appreciated being able to experiment with my
pastoral identity during my time here. Since finishing grad school
and being able to focus all my working time on ministry, I have
encountered a whirlwind of questions: how should I spend my
time as a pastor? What to do first? How much of myself to give
to each area? How do I dress when I go into the office, or to
pastoral care visits, meetings, and hospital calls? How do I open
my prayers and my sermons? How do I carry myself and introduce
myself? When and how do I show up with my family? These
particularities of pastoral identity can vary church-to-church
as well as pastor-to-pastor. And as small as some of them may
seem, it can be hard for a pastor to change these things once
their congregation has come to expect them to be a certain way.
At Plymouth, I have found the generosity and grace needed to
experiment and discover what being Pastor Remi means to me.
This will prepare me to enter my next call with a confidence of
self that was simply not possible just out of seminary.
In addition to just aiding retention of pastors, the TiM program
is also making me a more valuable and better equipped pastor
for my next call. There is a huge shortage of trained Intentional
Interim pastors, and many do the work out of necessity more
so than call. The church needs excited and passionate interim
ministers to help us face this next cultural moment. I am so
grateful to Plymouth Church’s TiM program for helping me
consider this important call.
The TiM program also offers space to discern what my next
call will be and what is important to me. What are preferences,
and what are deal-breakers? In the last year, I have become
more open to living outside of my hometown indefinitely, and
I’ve begun to consider Intentional Interim Ministry as a part of
my call to Next-Church ministry. The continuing education
and spiritual direction opportunities provided to TiMs have
helped me explore these possibilities, drastically widening the
possibilities for my next call.
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