The Fifth (and last) Church Denomination of My Life
Including the surprise of my life that happened this summer!
First Presbyterian Church in Seminole, Texas, from the church website.
Empty Nest
My husband, Chuck, and I ran away to our little piece of paradise in the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico, near Cloudcroft after our children were at Texas Tech (Alex) and Tarleton State (Christy). But they found us.
But, after graduation, both decided they wanted to “take a year off” before finding a career job. What better place than living with Mom and Dad in the mountains!
Note: Neither of them ever used their degrees in a work situation. But they grew into responsible adults, capable of taking care of themselves without constant help from parents. We are extremely proud of them.
Alex arrived at our home in Cox Canyon near Cloudcroft with two puppies. Christy arrived with two horses and immediately adopted a puppy. We had two inside cats.
We insisted both find jobs in Cloudcroft to help with expenses, which they were happy to do.
That was 2001. My mother also lived with us.
Speed the clock/calendar to March 2005. Five wonderful years in the mountains, where we’d always wanted to live.
Get Parents Into the Same Place
Chuck’s parents lived in Seminole, Texas, where Chuck and I were high school sweethearts. Mother had lived with us since 1993, when my father succumbed to his third heart attack.
Chuck’s dad, Charlie, was having health difficulties.
After an emergency surgery, he wasn’t expected to survive (he did).
We decided we needed to live in Seminole so Chuck wouldn’t have to drop everything and drive four hours to be there with his parents.
He agreed it would be wonderful to be able to see his parents every day for the rest of their lives.
A friend had advertised her family home for lease. It was next door to Chuck’s parents. It had two bedrooms and a bath on one end of the house. Perfect for Mother.
The master bedroom/bath were on the other end of the big house. Perfect for us. We moved in on March 1, 2005. Our churchless days came to an end on that day.
First Presbyterian Church
Chuck had grown up in the Presbyterian Church, where his mother was an Elder. Naturally, we joined the church and that’s where we’ve been since 2005.
Chuck quickly became an Elder and the church treasurer. His Elder position was running the Bob Lewis Mission, named for a beloved pastor, providing free food to families in need of help. He held that position for six years.
2011. No one wanted to replace him. It was a constant job to order food, unload and shelve it, then open the Mission every Wednesday morning, and keep records.
The Mission was up in the air without a new Elder.
I had stopped teaching to stay home with Mother, who began showing signs of Dementia in 2005.
After several events that proved to us we could no longer take care of her at home, we made the hard decision to move her to the nursing home in 2008.
I agreed to be an Elder and took over the Mission duties. Chuck helped me, of course, and so did a good many volunteers.
After three years, and the loss of several of our volunteers, we turned the food distribution over to the South Plains Food Bank in Lubbock, Texas.
It was a successful decision. The church continued to provide food to more than 100 families each month.
Chuck’s father died in 2007. His mother died in 2016. And my mother lived at the nursing home until she died peacefully in her sleep in 2018.
Our caretaking days were finally over.
Zoom to 2020
First Presbyterian in Seminole started looking for a new pastor in 2021.
Because of the pandemic, the church could no longer pay the current pastor. He and his wife moved to a different state and found a new church.
Members of our church took over “filling the pulpit” in 2020.
Chuck started preaching and conducting the Sunday services twice a month that summer.
He also accepted a part-time job in Alamogordo, NM, as an assembler for Home Depot. Grills, wheelbarrows, toolboxes, patio sets, rocking chairs, log-splitters, work trailers, and whatever else showed up each week.
I stayed at home in Seminole to write and take care of our kitties, Sophie and Freddie. I also took care of our porch kitties, which totaled a dozen most of the time.
I became a substitute teacher in 2021 when I heard the high school had 20 more teachers out but no more subs for their classes. Having taught for 12 years, I signed up to sub and enjoyed it immensely.
I even enjoyed subbing for a high school teacher on maternity leave for the last nine weeks of school. Physics!
August 1, 2023
This summer has brought a change in our church lives I never would’ve guessed would happen.
First Presbyterian had searched for a pastor for three years, without success. Chuck was chairman of the PNC (Pastor Nominating Committee).
He’d been preaching two Sundays a month for three years. Every pastor looking to move to a new church he contacted confessed they didn’t want to live in West Texas. It became clear we wouldn’t find a new pastor.
Chuck and I talked about him becoming a Lay Pastor. That would require him to move home to Seminole from Cloudcroft. He told me he was ready to come home permanently. Every other weekend wasn’t enough time together.
He gathered information from the Dubuque Seminary, recommended by the Presbytery. Eight online courses. Three this fall, three more in the spring, then two next summer.
Everyone at church loved the idea! There had been Lay Pastors who were hired by churches in our Presbytery as full-time Pastors. That possibility would mean Chuck might be the Pastor of the church by fall of 2024.
Seminary
Chuck’s courses will begin September 5, 2023.
Since he’ll be in Seminole full time, he’ll be preaching three Sundays a month. Dennis, the current Lay Pastor of the church, preaches and serves Communion on the first Sunday of each month.
Chuck’s parents would’ve been thrilled to know he wanted to pastor the church. He’s thrilled about it, too.
Linda?
Know what that means? Pastor’s Wife.
Speechless.
The Bottom Line
What have I learned after being a member of five denominations, and being baptized twice?
The vast majority of beliefs among those churches are basically the same. But there are differences. Some things I cannot bring myself to believe.
I’ve come up with a combination of beliefs I can live with. Some of those beliefs came from other philosophies. And from my parents appearing to me two days after my mother died.
Others came from my daughter’s ability to hear spirits! She can’t see them, but she can hear them and speak to them. But that’s another story.
I’d love to hear what you’ve thought about these four summaries of my spiritual life.
Feel free to make suggestions!
I’ll have a year to define my job to help Chuck be the best Lay Pastor he can be.
Hugs and Happiness and Beliefs You Can Live With!
Linda
Linda George has been a professional writer since 1980. She and her husband have written 75 books, fiction and NF.
Linda’s favorite place to write is their little piece of paradise near Cloudcroft, NM, where she absorbs serenity from the trees.