I want to be an Under-rower

In Sunday’s message, Pastor Scott in defining the word servant (if I remember right), shared with us that in the Greek language it referred to the under-rowers of the large ships of the day. I loved that description.

If I had to boil my philosophy of leadership down to one concept, it would be an under-rower. I want to be an under-rower to all of the staff and volunteers for whom I’m responsible. I want to be an under-rower to the congregation I serve on a daily basis. I hope I duplicate in Lititz, what I achieved in Princeton.

After serving as the Church Administrator in Princeton for four years, we felt God leading us to Lititz. I worked hard up until my last day. And that last evening, as I was closing out my office for the last time, tying up the loose ends before my departure, I felt as if my heart was being ripped out. It was a satisfying, yet painful agony. The previous four years of my efforts, the triumphs and the heartaches were running through my mind like a this-is-your-life highlight reel. I left the office that night acknowledging that I had made some mistakes, but that I’d given my all. I was spent. I had rowed for all I was worth.

I found great satisfaction in that evening.

The church in Princeton was special to me. I had connections to it going back to my childhood; my Dad was a Pastor there before becoming a missionary; my parents were missionaries sent by the church and I had attended there during college. I didn’t have those same connections when I started at Grace. I was a stranger at best; to a skeptic, a hired hand. But I can feel that I’m becoming just as vested at Grace. I consider the opportunity to be an under-rower for the staff with whom I serve a great honor. And each day it is a privilege for me to be your under-rower.