Fall is one of my favorite times to return to my Midwest roots in the Chicagoland suburbs. Walking through the town where I grew up, I am frequently overcome with a sensory experience that can practically overwhelm both my olfactory system and my memories synapses. The green grass feels better up there; softer, more reminiscent of a thick deep shag carpet than a minefield of slash grass and pinecone shards, and it smells better, too. The air in the fall in the upper Midwest just smells different. Both muddy and fresh, like fertile soil matched with lake water on the breeze- it is the scent of the growing season; either blooming or just bloomed.

And the breeze at times takes on the hint of what’s to come, too. The winter’s breath, still holding back behind jet-stream blockades, occasionally slips through a not-so-subtle reminder that this glorious fall season is a transitional one which will someday give way to a wintery wonderland; or, more likely, a brown, cold muddy and gray mundanity that invites contemplation and a strong desire to go into hibernation. But you know all that. Now, though, the days will be bright and beautiful; temperatures soaring to the upper 70’s, yet dipping into the delightful 50’s.  You will need to remind yourselves to bring sleeves with you if you’ll be venturing outside after sunset. Kind of like Gainesville in January.

Like a teenager with one foot firmly planted in childhood and the other in adulthood, Fall is the adolescent season. Some days will be a last chance to celebrate the exuberant summer, and some days will bring about the maturity and introspective wisdom of the winter.

And this year, the fall in Chicago will be forever youthful; with the potentially miraculous season of the current winningest team in baseball, the Chicago Cubs, practically destined to be World Series bound, you will arrive in a city swept up in community; with a comradery and sister and brotherhood at an all-time high; a community in bloom with love and care for one another; practically easy pickings for the spiritual community you will create with your new church start, Gilead. What fun you will have.

Of course, you are not just going to Gilead. You go to Bethany, too. Your new call is not just to minister to the new; you are also going to the old; inheriting as well a congregation steeped in tradition and place; an old and wizened church firmly established not far from where you plan to build your new one. And it’s not hard to draw correlations between the Biblical names of your two places, and the next season of your ministerial life, either. Gilead; a place of healing, new hope; a place of dreams. And Bethany– the place where Mary and Martha lived, the place where Lazarus was raised from the dead.

And so the question that rises in my mind is simply this, what miraculous works will you do, Rev. Amlin, as you venture forth to heed the call that brings you there?

It’s a dangerous thing, this life of the calling. You never know what tumult and trouble you might be getting yourself into. Often at a time such as this, we quote the prophet Isaiah, who, when called by God to be a prophet and a shepherd to the people, utters the phrase we ministers love to quote, saying, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” and I said, “Here I am; send me!”

We couldn’t be more proud of the good works you have done here among us. Your humor and light, your wisdom and grace have blessed each of us in our time. We all feel like we are part of your family; and you and Rachelle will always be part of us as well. And Nola will always be our baby. Thank you for allowing us to be fellow parents and grandparents with you to her. I do believe that it is grace that has brought her safe thus far; and I do believe that much of that grace came, thanks in large part, to this family of faith. Our journey with her will always be an important touch-stone in our faith journey; and our journey with you will always be an important chapter in our church history. You will all be forever woven into the silk and wool of our tapestry of faith at the good old UCG.

Now, while Isaiah might have been enthusiastic in his initiative to be God’s chosen shepherd to lead the people forward, what is often left out is that his enthusiasm wanes rather quickly as the very next verse has God telling him all the things the people are going to do to thwart his mission. The people, God says will, “Keep listening, but not comprehend, keep looking but not understand.” Their minds will be dull, their ears stopped up, their eyes will be shut and they will not follow a thing Isaiah will say.

Don’t worry. I’m sure that won’t happen for you.

But I am sure that this new road you travel will present challenges to you that you will wonder if you are capable of overcoming. You can.

When troubled, look to your history; and look at the journey you’ve made with us. Look to your mentors, and see the ways they were able to excel where others have failed. Larry and Sandy Reimer built this church from 70 to 700 members. They cultivated a community of love and concern, built through relationships and founded in love. We are their Gilead. And what an amazing community we have here. Shelly Wilson came to us when we thought we were firmly established; that our ministries were robust and there was little room for improvement. And since her time here she has created an incredible health ministry that is growing day by day and invites each of us to participate more fully in the life of one another and in the lives of those most at risk in our community. We are her Bethany; and we too have experienced a resurrection like Lazarus.

And ultimately, when the days grow shorter; when the night descends at 4:30 in the afternoon and you have to head out into the terrible, frigid, awful cold to go to another meeting; when your weary and wondering and maybe even feeling a little lost; fall back on these words that have been the most important first steps during the adolescence of your ministry. Join. Worship. Welcome. Learn. Grow. Follow. And Act. And let them give you strength, and let them carry you into a wise and wonderful new season of life and ministry.