Fun with people and their hurt feelings

As the very few of you that check on this blog know, I don't get to it as often as I would like. But hey, not like its compelling reading or anything! Well, I would like to talk about some stuff from this month since I laid out my big 'new year plans.'

I had my first experience with someone that had to be told no at Impact Church. Wasn't a huge deal and she wasn't completely in left field, but I did have to hurt her feelings a little bit. Her desire was to give an announcement in front of the church and she had always been given that freedom in her previous church(es). Not that we wouldn't let her do it, but she wanted to deliver a pretty serious announcement in a really silly way that would actually turn off her target audience.

Well, when it comes to telling people like this no it can very naturally fall onto my to-do list. It was very stressful and it started off very intense and she was very hurt. The conversation lasted for a while but in the end all was well and no one was left feeling uncared for or resentful. It was a cool experience as I look back on it because I had never had to handle that side of ministry. Telling someone no, that is, at the cost of hurting their feelings. It wasn't fun but I learned a whole lot about what I am doing through it. It was a good way to get my feet wet in this unavoidable part of ministry.

It may not seem like it was some earth shattering lesson or event - frankly it might hardly be worth mentioning. It was however a milestone in my experiences in pastoral ministry. Can't wait to see what is coming next!

I hope you are all doing well. I hope to email or talk to many of you very soon.