Remembering Pastor Riley
Here are
two quick stories about Pastor Riley that 1) share his heart and 2) I will
never forget.
In 2011
while we were considering changing the number of worship services, their times,
and offering Sunday school independent of any worship services Pastor Riley
shared something that I will never forget.
Pastor Riley stated something along the lines of “there are children in
this church who don’t know who I am!” I
looked into that man’s eyes folks, and let me tell you something, that reality
broke his heart! His lament shared two
of the passions of his heart, that children are important to him and that he
longed to have relationships with all of our children.
On
Sunday, June 1, 2014 when I saw Pastor Riley come off the stage during a song,
pick up a dancing four year old, and dance with her-I saw his longing
fulfilled! RUMC has become a place where
the pastor is not a stranger, but a friend of our children! Just as important, RUMC has become a place
where worship is a comfortable place for our young people. Praise God!
I thank
God for the legacy of Pastor Riley, and I think God for the coming of Pastor
Bremer. He too is a man who loves God
and who loves Children. We have a very
bright, and a very “sticky” future ahead of us, one that includes our beloved
Children.
Amen- me
it be so!
No comments:
Post a Comment