Rev. Paul A. Herpich, Pastor, King of Kings Lutheran Church

"You Must Be Excited"

So was the comment from three different people on August 11. I had to honestly tell them that I was more nervous than excited. Every day the responsibilities of parish life squeeze out the time I planned to use for preparation for the classes which I will be teaching. Both of our children are at major life passages in their lives and Betsy and I find ourselves focusing on them rather than the packing lists, the clothing, the medicines, the books and more books which we will need to bring with us to Madagascar. I have no idea of how we will "shoehorn" all of what we need to take in two suitcases each no matter how large they might be.

I must admit that the enthusiasm of others is contagious. Betsy's brother (who flies to Africa about every other month for Youth for Christ) is exceedingly excited for us. He even has a good friend who will be only a couple of hours from us. Dave will make one of his trips to Africa this fall take him to Madagascar. Friends and family continue to offer words of encouragement. We'll also have visits from Betsy's dad and his wife and our children at Christmas time.

I am looking forward to this time away as an opportunity to sit at the feet of Christians half way around the world and to learn from them. Oh, I'll be teaching about Martin Luther's theology, but they'll be teaching us about what is important and necessary in life. As I have said to some of you, I'm 50 years old (almost) and have spent most of my life in the suburbs and major cities of the United States. This experience will certainly be different. I pray that it will challenge and strengthen my faith. I look forward to a renewed hope and vision. I expect that it will help me to see and to receive life in a new way. I deeply hope that this experience will be able to be translated into the life of King of Kings.

"You must be excited." Yes, for all that this sabbatical promises to be, I am excited. For all of the work that is in front of me, I am quite scared. We'll celebrate the sabbatical on September 8th and 9th at all three services. We will then have a chicken barbecue following the Service of Godspeed at the 10:45 a.m. service of worship.

I do want to especially thank the Parish Staff Relations team and the church council for their encouragement and leadership in making this sabbatical happen. I also want to thank them for their commitment to greater leadership during my absence. I pray that the rest of the congregation will "jump in" during this time of transition. I'm also thankful that we have a staff at King of Kings in whom the council can be confident of their leadership during this vacancy.

Am I excited? Wait until I board that plane in New York City!!