The Imprtance of Team

I knew I was going to miss Denny when he retired, but it really hit me hard last night after the retirement celebration. In a sense, I felt like I'd just lost a family member or a good friend. These last four years of working together with Denny have been by far my most rewarding years of ministry. After being pretty much on my own for many years as a pastor and church planter, it has been such a joy to be part of a team.

In fact, I probably wouldn't even be in full time ministry today if it hadn't been for a phone call from Denny over four years ago inviting me to get together and to explore the idea of merging our church plant with Thornydale Family Church. It's been exciting to see how God brought those two bodies together and how Denny and I have been able to work together over these past four years. Denny has been my friend, my mentor and my co-worker during that time and my ministry has been so much more effective because of our teamwork.

I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. Isn't that exactly the point Paul made in Ephesians, Romans and 1 Corinthians when he writes about the church as a body with different parts that must work together in order to be effective? I'm thankful that I'm still part of a team. In fact Denny is still part of that team, too - just in a different role now. I'm excited to see what God will do in our midst as we serve Him together.