Pastoring days

I just finished reading Stanley Hauerwas' memoir, Hannah's Child. I somehow missed reading him while I was in seminary and pastoring. It got me thinking about those days, especially my brief tenure as associate pastor at Trinity UMC, Durham. The previous associate had had a rocky relationship with the pastor. I don't know really why I was sent, certainly not to try and repair anything; maybe just to be a somewhat stabilizing presence. Trinity was coasting on its history of being a high-profile congregation, though its glory days were mostly behind it. There were plenty of heavy-hitting folks still around, including a former governor and several faculty and staff from Duke Divinity ( where I did not attend). As I was reading this book, and enjoying how Hauerwas reflected on his arrival at Duke, I wondered if maybe that was why I was appointed to this particular church: simply because I was _not_ a graduate of the local school (I had attended Wesley Seminary in Washington, DC). I certainly wasn't going to "do" anything that grew out of being an alum of another school: I was far too timid and unsure of myself at that point. But I wonder if my superiors had this in the back of their minds. It's on my mind now. As it turns out, the pastor left the following year. I felt like I wanted to give the church a clean slate, so I opted to move along also (to Goldsboro). A couple of things spring to mind about those days: a major screw-up: I accepted a preaching gig at a neighboring church for a mid-week service and then completely forgot about it; I wrote a pretty scathing letter to the local paper in response to an article and learned that I don't like negative blow-back; I met the woman who would become my wife. A fascinating year.