15 Things From 15 Years, For Which I’m Grateful by Jason Edwards
Beloved community,
By the time you read this, we’ll be beyond the recognition of our 15 years together. I’m grateful for these years we’ve shared. They’ve accumulated slowly while also seemingly, in the blink of an eye. With appreciation for all they’ve held, here are 15 things from our 15 years for which I’m giving thanks.
The Gifts of Time (passed). In his book, “The Wisdom of Stability,” Jonathan Wilson Hartgrove points out that your experience of community will match your time invested in community. You can’t experience five years’ worth of community after only six months in a place. No, the gifts of community accumulate over time coupled with intentional investment. You called our family here in the spring of 2009. I’m so grateful for the intentional accumulation of our 15 years together.
Saying Yes. #1 couldn’t have happened without this #2. Over 15 years ago, we said yes to a certain kind of relationship. You said “yes” to me serving as your pastor. Our family also said “yes” to your call and God’s. Like all covenant relationships that stand and grow from the tests of time, those “yeses” were not once and for all. We’ve revisited and repeated our yeses at different moments in time over the years, choosing to renew our commitment to God’s call to and in this place. I didn’t know what our yesses would hold and never would have found out without them. Here’s to our next “yes” as we continue to live from God’s eternal “yes” in Christ.
“Our People.” We found our people here, and our people found us. I once heard someone say finding your people is like wandering through an unfamiliar wood only to arrive at a clearing and realize you are home. That realization dawned upon us in our first moments with 2BC and feels truer with each passing year. In the days ahead, may we all renew our commitment to helping others find “their people” among our people.
Lessons Learned. This also could have been titled: mistakes. You called me at the ripe age of 31 years old. There has been a lot of “figuring out” in the years since. Trial and error is how we grow; when we do it together, we also grow in grace. I’m grateful for the grace you’ve shown as I’ve grown. May God use every misstep for God’s good purposes in our days ahead.
Permission Given. In pastoral ministry, people give you permission to be in their lives in ways otherwise reserved for trusted loved ones. You permit and invite us to be with you in spaces of struggle, sacrifice, trial, and tragedy. Likewise, you have shown up in those same kinds of places for our family. Of course, we don’t always show up perfectly for one another. Who does? But the experience of offering and embracing that permission to do so has been one of the thinnest places in our lives.
The Ways You’ve Loved Our Children. You’ve loved each of our children for who they are, as they are. You have welcomed them, embraced them, and loved each of them as unique souls created and given by God. We do not take that for granted. It has blessed us and shaped us. As pastor, I want all our children to experience the fullness of God’s love and ours in community. This is one of our most sacred duties.
Your Compassion and Courage. Second Baptist has a reputation for demonstrating courage rooted in compassion. The earliest 2BC’ers started a new church so that others would know God’s love. So many service organizations and initiatives have been born over the years from Second’s instinct to care for the “least of these.” God has used Second to amplify God’s call to so many women (and men) over the years - pastors, deacons and ministry leaders whose call might have been muffled by other congregations. With compassion, may we continue to courageously pursue, embrace, and implement God’s call among us.
Room to Grow. I’ve already named gratitude for the ways Second has held space for the growth of my own calling and gifts. 2BC is truly special in this way, which is why I knew we would be fertile ground to nurture the growth of other young pastors. So, we started our Pastoral Residency, which blesses both our congregation and others through our gentle and generous investments in Pastoral Residents. Participating in this apprenticeship is one of the greatest joys of my own life and ministry.
Our Church Staff. I love the people I get to work with—all of them and each of them. I love their gifts, convictions, commitment… and how they respect, collaborate, and serve as a team. I’ll never forget one of our first Pastoral Residents commenting after about six months here, “Jason, this is the healthiest church staff I’ve ever seen.” Another gift which I will never take for granted.
This is My Foxhole. By that, I mean, I’m glad I get to go through the hard things with our people. During the pandemic, everyone experienced an extra layer of stress. Many ministry colleagues around the country were struggling. Amid the struggle, I was so grateful to be going through the pandemic with this church, these leaders, and this staff.
Generosity. I mean this in more ways than I can name. Of course, we’ve seen our congregation continue to grow in its financial support for the ministry of our church. The impact of that is both measurable and difficult to fully measure. Even more, there is a generosity of spirit, heart, and thought that permeates our life together. At our best, we hold space for new ideas, creativity, diverse perspectives, and God’s ever-expanding love. You don’t have to have it all figured out to find light and life with Second Baptist.
Our Impact. Our church was started out of a passion for missions. I’m thankful for the missions legacy of 2BC in Liberty and in our world. Decades of partnership with the Lakota in South Dakota. Almost 15 years in Haiti and ten invested in Thailand. Ongoing investment in so many meaningful non-profits in and beyond our city. Global leadership through our partnership with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Unique and creative ministries like our Many Hands Fair Trade Shop and our Second Hope payday lending alternative. The ever-rippling effects of our Pastoral Residency. These are only snippets. And there’s more to come.
Liberty, Missouri. “Just when I thought I was out, they keep pulling me back in!” This quote from The Godfather III is kind of the flipside of how most of us feel about Liberty. Once you’ve lived here, you never really want to live elsewhere. Christy and I love to travel, but our hope is that Liberty will always be home. We love so much about Liberty. Even more, we love its people. Most of all, the people of Second Baptist Church.
Sports Fandom. I would just like to take a moment to note that since we arrived in Liberty in 2009, the Kansas City Royals have won two American League Championship Series and one World Series. The Kansas City Chiefs have been to four Super Bowls and won three of them. I’m not saying we had anything to do with that, but it has happened. Patrick Mahomes also wears #15, so, you know, thanks be to God for these 15 years.
The Gifts of Time (ahead). Have you ever had the sense that God is turning a page into a new chapter you definitely don’t want to miss? I sense that now. There is a Holy Spirit stirring within us and among us that seems to be saying: Stay awake! Open the eyes of your heart a little wider. God is doing something almost imperceptible. It’s the beginning of what’s next. What God will do next is what we’ll be writing home about 15 years from now. What’s next for Second Baptist is something we definitely don’t want to miss.
Friends, all of this is my way of saying we are grateful for you and to God for the gift of life with you. We love you. In so many ways, God meets us here.
Truly yours,
Jason Edwards, Senior Pastor