Land of Misfits

Over the ten years I've pastored Central Baptist I've come to refer to our community as, "The land of misfit Christians."  I describe us this way because we simply don't fit into people's typical expectations.  We're Baptists who change our colors according to the liturgical calendar. We sing, with equal vigor, hymns played by the bluegrass band and praise songs on the organ. We offer a liturgical response to prayers, led by a grandfather in blue-jeans.  Most of all we laugh.  We laugh at ourselves, and our own foibles.  We laugh at the absurdity of the world even as we pray for Jesus bring his peace.  We laugh at our stories, poke gentle fun at one another, and even rib the pastor a bit when he's preaching. We're misfits because we live in the creative cracks between all the boxes in which people think we should dwell  – traditional, small, contemporary, large, old, conservative, respectable, liberal.  In those cracks, we discover the Story of Jesus and his love.  We embrace the tales of this Story which have been passed down to us, and celebrate that we're adding our own mark on it's telling.

We are a creative group of goof-balls, looking to see what Jesus has in store – and I'm humbled to be called it's pastor.