There was a very special sort of electricity in the air at Holy Communion this past Sunday, and not just because the thermometer was reading 90-plus degrees. What was in the air was excitement and anticipation as we finally welcomed our new senior pastor, Bill Grimbol. I say finally because it seems like forever since we began our search for a new senior pastor – and also because Pastor Bill’s arrival ended up being a bit delayed when he had to undergo open heart surgery back in the spring. But he is feeling fine now and couldn’t be more excited to get started.
Sunday was an exciting beginning- but also a sweet homecoming, since Pastor Bill actually grew up at Holy Communion and has always had the warmest possible affection for the place- and vice versa. That made this an atypical “first Sunday” since there was a little less of that what-are-we-in-for? doubt and a little more away-we-go! excitement and anticipation. . . as well as a dash of Finally! It feels like we have been waiting a terribly long time for a new senior pastor to arrive, but in fact our wait hasn’t been nearly as long as that of a lot of congregations, especially those in rather remote locales, that sometimes wait years and years- and who sometimes end up settling for someone who seems like less than a perfect fit. (Especially heart- breaking are those instances when a congregation suffers through a long, difficult search process – finally seems to have someone in place – and then something happens which compels them to withdraw from the call before they even arrive.) Compared to those tales of woe, Holy Communion did very well. But still- – – it was a great day that seemed to take forever to get here.
Pastor Bill may be a familiar name and face to the folks of Holy Communion, but the decision to call him was a bold move in that for the last quarter century or so, he has been a pastor of a Presbyterian congregation out east. (He’s always been an ordained Lutheran pastor, but when he and his wife chose to settle on Long Island many years ago, it was the local Presbyterian church that needed a pastor.) I don’t mean to imply that Presbyterians are from Mars…. some of my best friends have been Presbyterian….. but there are some clear and intriguing differences between the two churches, beginning with pastoral garb. Whenever Pastor Bill has been a guest preacher at Holy Communion, he has worn the standard robe of that church, which looks a little more like an academic gown or the kind of thing Robert Schuller used to wear at the Crystal Cathedral. When a call from our congregation to Pastor BIll was extended and accepted, it was decided that Holy Communion would give him a classic Lutheran alb as well as a beautiful stole made by our own Lynn Helmke. That presentation was made right at the beginning of the service, and it turned out to be a surprisingly significant gesture- as though representing the closing of one chapter and the opening of a new one.
So who is Bill Grimbol? First of all, he’s a big bear of a man- and one of the most exuberantly loving, joyous people I’ve ever met. But his optimistic, positive spirit is not the painted on smile variety, but an optimism born of an authentic belief that God loves us and desires the best of us and walks with us thru all that life might hurl at us. And life has hurled some challenges at Bill Grimbol over the years, but they have only deepened his trust in God and his lust for life. He is also a man of energy and vision – and a mesmerizing preacher. Come to think of it, he’s also a really fine writer; the letter he wrote to the congregation was an absolute masterpiece in which his voice and personality seemed to leap right off of the page. So he has some colossal gifts- but he also has a keen eye and deep appreciation for the gifts in others, and that’s one of the things I like most about him.
There will be some things to get used to – including Pastor Bill’s personality, which is a markedly different from Pastor Samuelson (our interim pastor) or Pastor Barrow, who was the previous senior pastor, or Pastor Hermanns, our Pastor Emeritus. But one thing I think it neat to think about is how all of the aforementioned pastors – though sewn from drastically different cloth – are all fine and gifted pastors with all the heart in the world. I love that excellence can come in so many shapes and sizes and textures, and that the gifts God gives us come in limitless number and variety.
So what do I most remember from Pastor Grimbol’s first Sunday? The heat, for one – but much more than that, I remember the joy and excitement. I remember laughing at one of the first stories Pastor Grimbol shared – about how he and his wife joked that as they crossed the border from Ohio into Indiana they immediately knew they were in the MIdwest because on one side of the road was the Butt Hut (a cigarette shop) and on the other side of the road was Happy Hookers (a bait shop.) I remember glowing with pride as my voice student Sam Neubauer did a beautiful job singing a solo for the occasion (O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus, sung to the tune of Morning is Broken). And I had a lump in my throat as the senior choir sang “Jesus the Light of the World,” with Kate Barrow singing new words in place of the “Hark the Herald Angel” text that typically comprises the verses when we sing this for the annual Christmas program (although it would have been kind of fun to sing Christmas words on a July day with temperatures in the 90’s.) Mostly I remember this palpable sense that Holy Communion is headed in the right direction and that these challenging times need not be frightening times for us. Not any more.
pictured above: the presentation of a new alb and stole to Pastor Grimbol. Council person Joleen Carlsen is holding the alb – next to her is Andrea Godson, our youth minister.