July 1, 2007: Rev. Mary Jane O'Connor Ropp to retire
May The Living Christ
Go With You…
June 17th will be my last Sunday with you, after which I will be taking two weeks’ vacation and “officially” retiring on July 1, 2007. The closer it gets to June 17th, the more meaningful each and every encounter becomes, the more precious each worship experience becomes. After twenty years in ministry, all but five years of which has been spent in small churches, I am deeply grateful for the sense of Christian community and mutual caring that small churches offer. I am grateful for the past five years here on Martha’s Vineyard, first with Trinity UMC and this past year, with all four churches. I have been blessed by knowing you and sharing this part of my faith journey with you. I hope you will come to my farewell party on June 17th so that I can personally thank you.
When I was ordained as a deacon in June of 1988, a friend gave me a gift with a card in which a prayer by the Rev. Lloyd John Ogilvie (a pastor and author) was printed. The minute I saw that prayer, I knew that I would use it as a benediction. And so, for the past twenty years, with very few exceptions, I have ended each worship service with that prayer. Many of you have asked for a copy, and so I offer it as my departing blessing to you. Just one note: one line has been added to the original prayer. A parishioner in the South Athol United Methodist Church suggested adding the line “beneath you to cushion you” after he had been through a difficult time and felt Christ cushioning his fall.
May the Living Christ go with you:
Before you to show you the way,
Beside you to befriend you,
Behind you to encourage you,
Above you to watch over you,
Beneath you to cushion you,
And within you to give you peace.
Go now in his peace.
Amen.
God’s richest blessings to all of you, Mary Jane
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