A Clergy Appreciation Month Reflection from Rev. Matt Rosine

In this season of clergy appreciation, my mind’s eye scrolls through images of pastors who have shaped me, not through heroic measures but by simply being themselves. And I was just lucky enough to be in their path as they lived openly to God’s grace. 

There was Dr. Dave, whom I knew first as my best friend’s dad. He was funny and wise and caring as a human being. Only later did I learn he was a pastor. 

There was Jeff who, even before I was considering a call to ministry, said, “I’d like you to come preach at my church.” 

There was Laurie who welcomed me to a college 800 miles from home and helped me find a larger purpose for my homesickness.

There was David, who sat with my mom and dad and me as my dad was taking his final breaths. His impassioned praying still echoes in my heart: Pour out extra measures of your grace . . .

And there was Shirley. 

Pastor Shirley was a commissioned lay minister in the small-town congregation where I grew up. A teacher for 20 years, Shirley heard a call from God to share her love of teaching children in service to the church. When I was 15, she handed me a goldenrod sheet of paper that had arrived on her desk earlier in the week. 

Before the internet, once a month, regional offices would send every church a thick envelope filled with colored papers announcing various regional and denominational programs, curriculum samples, and sundry news items. In my region, Christian Ed materials were always copied onto goldenrod paper.

This goldenrod sheet outlined the application process for a regional youth council: a group of high school students who would work together designing events for peers across the state. In the margin, her perfect cursive prompted me: Any interest, Matt?

A simple gesture. Perhaps even offhand. But it became the first in a series of steps on my journey to ministry. Thank you, Shirley. 

Thank you, Dave and David. Thank you, Jeff. Thank you, Laurie. And thanks to each of you who carry the title “Pastor,” living out your calling by extending God’s tender mercies to anyone in your path.

You never know what your small act of kindness or words of invitation may spark.

Sometimes the invitation of God comes to us as blue ink scribbled on goldenrod.

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Matt Rosine is President of the Christian Church Foundation and lives in Indianapolis, IN. He’d enjoying hearing about the pastors who shaped your life: mrosine@ccf.disciples.org.