The North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church recently published its 2024 Handbook. Exciting news, I know. Order a copy today.

The reference includes a Chronological Roll of ordained elders based on their dates of ordination. Each year surviving pastors ascend in order as their predecessors move to that Great Parsonage in the Sky.

I currently rank #222 on the roll BUT #1 among active clergy. Everyone ordained before me on the list has retired. I continue to evaluate my feelings about the dubious honor.

Bishop Joel McDavid ordained twenty-seven elders in The Class of 1984. A group photo on the front steps of Glenn Memorial UMC captured our faces. A few colleagues died along the way. Some left the ministry for various reasons. Others retired.

I take pride in forty-three years of full-time ministry; but I possess the humility to recognize God’s sustaining grace throughout my vocation. The Lord has worked in, thru, and despite me to accomplish the divine will.  

My bucket list excludes ascending to #1 on the Chronological Roll, but no one knows when its time to leave the party. One day every believer will go onward and upward from the church militant to the church triumphant. We join the Psalmist in praying for the wisdom to number our days.

Until that glorious day, I am #222 with a bullet.

Soli Deo Gloria.