And so I face the final curtain

4th August 2013

So the day I’d been dreading dawned. The day of my farewell services at Fairview UMC.

I woke feeling very apprehensive and down cast. Not looking forward to being part of the services at all. But the show must go on!

Fortunately I managed to sneak into the church unnoticed and go into the Pastor’s Study and close the door in order to gather my thoughts.

The 9am service is Contemporary Worship. And before the service commenced I met with the worship band and we prayed together. My prayer was that the Holy Spirit would will us all today. And that the band would raise the roof. One band member said “I don’t think the 11 o’clock service members would be happy without a roof.” My reply “Tell them it’s my fault.”

Well the worship band did raise the roof and the worship was powerful. And our good friends the Worship Band leader and his wife were on fire.

The full band were there today and they are a great outfit. Two guitars (one electric and one acoustic) a bass player (who doubles on keyboards) two singers and a drummer. The drummer is a great guy. “Back in the day” he played with a number of bands and groups including Ike & Tina Turner. The first time I met him he said to me “I once worked with a Brit you might have heard of. John Lennon!”

Somehow I managed to preach and hold it together and then lead communion alongside the Associate Pastor. We used a liturgy I love, from the Iona Community.

I’d been told just before the Benedicition there be a presentation. And the chair of the Parish Committee came forward and presented me with a beautiful book about Lake Norman. Written inside the book were these words:

“David, Jesus called the disciples while they were fishing at the water. He preached from the Sea of Galilee. He even walked on water. You come to us from over the water. May the waves you see in the days and years to come serve as a reminder of our Christian love and prayers coming your way. Thank you for being YOU”

Anne was also presented with a lovely tea cosy made by the quilting group at the church. It is gorgeous.

After this I had to give the benediction. I used the closing verses of 2 Corinthians:

11 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All God’s people here send their greetings.
14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

I was then expecting the piece of music services usually end with. But the band had other ideas. And they struck up a version of The Beatles “She loves you” But this was “He loves you” (He being Jesus)

“He loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, He loves you yeah, yeah yeah, He loves you yeah, yeah yeah,
You think you’ve lost His love, well I heard Him yesterday. It’s you he’s thinking of and He told me what to say
Because He loves you, And you know that can’t be bad, Yes He loves you and you know you should be glad.
“He loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, He loves you yeah, yeah yeah, He loves you yeah, yeah yeah,
We know you have to go, We’ve almost lost our minds. But now the time is so, and you won’t be hard to find.
Because we love you, and you know that can't be bad
Yes we love you, And you know you should be glad.
We love you yeah, yeah, yeah
He loves you yeah, yeah, yeah
With a love like that you know you should be glad.
With a love like that you know you should be glad.
With a love like that you know you should be glad.”

It was sang to me and what a gift!

So round one over and a short intermission for cakes, coffee etc. and the meet people. The best part of an hour disappeared in minutes. Then round 2. The 11.00 traditional service.

The choir sang setting of “Guide me O thou great Jehovah” featuring guest vocalist, yours truly. (No solos were involved thankfully.) I preached again and at the end got a standing ovation! This was followed by communion. And then a second presentation. This time with a pretty print of a painting of downtown Mooresville and a “Love Offering” of a very generous amount.

My speech of thanks was something like this:

“ In the time I’ve been here you’ve tried various means to try and get me to leave – barbecue, taking me to a rodeo, taking me to Sims Country Barbecue and making me try clogging, throwing me in a swimming pool and now bribery. OK. I quit!” This brought the house down. (Fairview are a good audience for my jokes!)

Then, the moment I’d been dreading. Each week the service closes with the singing of the Irish Blessing:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

I have had a lump in my throat every time we’ve sung it so today was going to be a killer. I was in floods of tears and Anne was sobbing next to me. And as we sang the song through our tears we realised that the background to the PowerPoint slide was a picture of Swindon. (For Swindon friends it was a view looking across the town probably take from Liddington I should imagine.)

After the service we were presented with various gifts including a framed print of the words of the Irish blessing, jars of pickles from a very sweet elderly lady, mugs and t shirts. Later on I was also given a holding cross carved by a local wood turner.

After all this love it was back to reality as we collected the hire car from Charlotte Airport, started packing and tidying the house.

Tom had gone out with the youth group this evening. So Anne and I went to get a Chinese Takeaway. We went to a place Tom and I had used once before during our first 10 days here called “Golden China”. The young man recognised me immediately and treated me like a long lost friend.

But that’s Mooresville and the South for you.

Y’all come on back real soon.