A Confusing Call

I attended a conference special meeting today to discuss and vote on the fate of a conference center...a real estate asset for our conference.  While it is a beautiful and historic property on a prize piece of waterfront, it has been draining our Conference's coffers and after years of contemplation, and a beckoning of the Holy Spirit, we voted to close it down and sell it.

I felt this was in some ways a challenge to my call.....Huh you say.  Well, I came from a background of Government Commercial Real Estate.  So I have managed institutional properties, done asset business plans, and life-cycle analyses for building systems.  And I felt the "old" real estate identity cropping up and offering comments when the "new" minister identity may have remained silent. I think that the Conference Ministers and the Coordinating Council did a superb job running the worship and negotiating their way through our polity and this difficult decision.

I guess this begs the question of am I ready to do the new thing?  Well I think the Holy Spirit is really at work in this process.  The scripture that was used for worship was 1 Samuel 3:1-10.  It is the call of Samuel. The first two times God tried to call him, he thought that it was Eli calling him and he was indeed confused and then ultimately scared to think it was God calling.  Tonight I ponder the call to new Church.....The Holy Spirit spoke today that the Conference is called to new C/church.  

When God calls again, let me ready to say, "Speak, I'm your servant and ready to listen."  It is one of my favorate Hebrew words...Hinene.  Here I am to do your will!