“For All That Has Been…”
Hulitt Gloer
Just two short years ago Sheila and I were closing out one chapter of our life together and preparing to enter another. As has been the case with every previous chapter, this new chapter was one we could never have imagined yet it all began in 2005 when I had lunch in Waco with David McCollum. David and I had been friends since our days at Baylor in the last century (1968-72). He asked if I would consider being the interim pastor at 2BC, Little Rock. I said “yes”, and the rest is history. The year we journeyed with you as interim pastor was one of the best and most important years of our lives.
Fast forward to 2017. I was finishing up 18 years of teaching at Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary and you offered the opportunity to return and spend the first two years of retirement as Scholar-in-Residence. This was an opportunity too good to be true and too exciting to pass up.
I came to Christ as a result of the local church, responded to the call to ministry in that same local church, and “cut my teeth” in ministry in the local church. What a privilege to conclude 52 years of active ministry in the local church and not just any local church but 2BC, the local church that has meant more to me than any since that first local church in which I grew up.
Now Sheila and I are packing again. By the time you read these words, we will probably be unpacking but this move was not a surprise. We have known for some time that our “retirement” would take shape in Liberty, a suburb of Kansas City, MO. Our youngest son, Josh, and his wife, Karen, live there. Most importantly, their daughter, Molly (our only grandchild), lives there! We will be living two miles from them. What more could a grandfather or grandmother ask for?
The fact is, of course, that God has always known what I have needed long before I did. That is why the previous chapters have all been surprises to me. I could, no I would, never have conceived nor imagined this life full of surprise and the joy and fulfillment it has brought me. And you, my dear friends, have capped it off with two wonderful years of doing the things I love to do amidst the people I love. Surely, no king and queen have been treated more royally than you have treated us. We have wanted for nothing from the day of our arrival to the day of our departure. You have loved us, affirmed us, and supported us at every turn. We have seen in you how a church really can be the presence of Christ in the world. In short, we have seen Jesus in you! For all of this, we shall be eternally grateful.
This is not our goodbye letter; we’re not saying, “good-bye,” for by God’s grace, we are looking forward to continuing our service together in the days ahead. Remember my favorite benediction? It has never been truer than it is of our feelings about you and our time with you over the last two years. So, I would be most grateful if you would join me once again…with great gusto!
For all that has been, we say, THANKS!
And for all that is yet to be, we say, YES!