Maybe you knew it was coming. I’ve been here ten weeks now and you may have thought to yourself, “When is our new pastor going to tell us what her agenda really is?” And, as in all pastoral transitions, you may have been nervous that my plan for the church didn’t match the congregation’s.

When I was interviewing for pastoral calls I talked to a lot of search committees. Once I got to the second or third interviews, a surprising number of committees asked me, “What is your agenda for our church?”

I was always a little baffled by the question. I felt a little like a political candidate being asked to make campaign promises. The first few times I stumbled through an answer offering all the usual responses that people want to hear: church growth, community outreach, vibrant worship, more programs for children and youth, etc.

It was true. I did want to help bring all those good things to a congregation. But the answer always felt a little wrong. I’d rattle off a list of programs but then feel uneasy.

I finally realized why. As a pastoral candidate there is no way to know exactly what a congregation needs. The truth is, until you really get to know a congregation, you can’t see where they are or what should be done first. You can’t have an agenda.

Even worse is a pastor who comes in blind to the needs of the church while they attempt to impose their own views and perspectives on everything all the while ignoring their context.

I began to tell search committees something like this: “I do not have an agenda for your church. I have ideas. I have leadership skills. I have suggestions. And I have the will to shepherd you through the projects you feel will benefit your congregation the most. But other than that, there is no agenda”

Now that I have been called as your pastor I can tell you that that has not changed. I still have no agenda for this church. Instead, I feel a strong call to help us all ask not, “What is our agenda for this church?” but instead “What is God’s agenda here?”

God is doing new things with us. In the last couple of months we have welcomed more people into our pews. We have seen more children in our midst. We have undertaken new outreach ministries. And we have grown in our spirit of fellowship. That’s not about me or what I’ve done. That’s about what everyone in this church has been doing, and what God has been doing with us. God’s agenda has been enough.

But if someone were to force me to state my agenda as a pastor, it would be something like this: My agenda as your pastor is to love God, and to love you. Beyond that, I simply want to be a shepherd to this congregation. I want to use my gifts and skills to help us all to listen to what God is saying to us, and to act in such a way that God’s light shines through us. If we can figure out God’s agenda, the rest is just details.