As many of you already know, Julie and I are moving—have moved!—to Cleveland, TN. We closed this past Thursday, and we’ve spent the last few days unpacking and kondo-ing.
Tomorrow, Julie will fly back to Tulsa to stay with the kids and Auggie in the Airbnb we’ve rented. I’ll be here in Cleveland for a couple weeks more, finishing my Christology book and some other writing and grading that’s due or past due. After that, I’ll return to Oklahoma for a few meetings and once the boys finish their semester we’ll head to CleVegas for good.
Why are we moving? A few reasons—all good.
Over the last year or so, as I have been recovering from my stroke, Julie and I have been sensing a shift, a rekindling of our calling to pastoral ministry, which we sensed first in college more than 25 years ago. To be clear, we did not feel called away from anything we were doing. We loved being in Tulsa, not only because we were grateful to be living so close to our families but also because we loved being involved on a daily basis in ministry at Sanctuary. Still, when I was elected as the next bishop of the Diocese of St Anthony, we realized that what the Spirit was asking of us would require a move. The only questions were where and when.
Unsurprisingly, the discernment process took time. Tons of planning and strategizing. Loads of conversations, some difficult. All soaked in prayer. From the start, we received excellent guidance from our bishops, wise counsel from our parents, and constant encouragement from our friends. And over time, an image of a future started to emerge. We started to realize more and more clearly that this move would truly be good both for us and for our kids, my students and collaborators at SEU, as well as for the churches and ministers in our diocese.
Why Tennessee? We were given six lovely years in Cleveland before I took the SEU job. Emery was born in the Chattanooga hospital, remember. And all of us, including Julie and me, Zoē, Clive, and Em, formed deep, lifelong friendships here. If Oklahoma is home, and it is, then Tennessee is home too. So, after we had taken the time needed to discern God’s will for us, we came to understand that this move and all that it would entail not only made sense for us as a family but also for the diocese (in part because we have a number of clergy already serving in Nashville, Knoxville, Cleveland, and Chattanooga) and for the students and colleagues at Southeastern’s Barnett College and Center for Sustainable Ministry, demonstrating our shared commitment to the intimate, life-giving connection between Pentecostal scholarship and practice, Spirit-filled theology and Spirit-led ministry.
Honestly, although there has been so much to be grateful for, the last few years have been especially challenging for us, not least because of my and Julie’s health. We are just now starting to feel like ourselves again. And I know the promise of this new season has a lot to do with that. And of course all of this is happening in the Spirit’s timing and at the Spirit’s pace. For that reason, painful as some of the changes have been and will be, we are entering this new time in our lives with a surpassing peace. We are confident God has made a way for us to flourish in the work we’ve been asked to do. Thanks to God’s goodness and wisdom, which has shown itself in the creativity and courage of our leaders and the endless generosity and unflagging support of our families and friends, Julie and I have the chance to fulfill our calling and to enjoy the life God has given us together. We are so grateful. With all that is happening, and as quickly as its playing out, we do not feel pulled apart or sped up; we feel gathered, focused—clear.
Please pray for us as we continue to get settled. Pray we’ll seek out the partnerships God has prepared for us and find the rhythm of life that allows us as a family to live and work generatively and sustainably, trusting ourselves to God's mercy and our neighbors’ care.
Grace + Peace,
CG
I mean, I’d like to thank God for centralizing all my mentors in a place that also has access to Moon Pies.
Oh, wow! This is awesome. I’ll be praying for you all, and for everything that the Spirit is up to!