Image Credit: Peter Straub
My earliest memories of church were formed back when I was probably five or six. By that time I had been a faithful "member" of the United Church of Lincoln for probably three or four years, thanks to my grandmother (Oma). She had been dragging me along since I was old enough to be away from my mom.
In the early years, I would do all sorts of things to keep myself occupied while in church. Coloring in the picture of the church on the front of the bulletin, drawing on the empty space in the back, or, not too long later in life, playing on the various games in Oma's phone.
I let the usual swirl of churchfolk around me do what they wanted to do. I was absorbed into my own little bubble. This was how it was for many years, until I was about nine.
By then, I had discovered the balcony. I had sat up there a few times, but it just wasn't the same, coloring the ol' bulletin now that I had been introduced to the world of Oma's phone. I remember vividly one day, I was standing on the balcony deciding if I wanted to sit up-top or down-low. The determining factor in this decision was that "I was hungry" and I didn't realize communion (which wasn't served that day anyway) was served to folks in the balcony as well.
But most importantly to the balcony is a placed that has been nicknamed the "Eagle's Nest." And, you guessed it, I'm the Eagle.
The Eagle's Nest is home only some of the electronics that make the church A/V system tick. This includes the streaming computer (services are livestreamed to YouTube every Sunday), the A/V control panels, and copious other things too mundane to be named.
I don't know what it was, but I was drawn to this system. I began to sit up there before church and move when I saw the man who operated the system at the time come into church. I slowly began to get involved, taking over the void left in the already tiny tech team that was left behind by my grandfather, Opa.
I began to be trained in the system. Then, two or three years ago now, I took over completely. I do all of the work that makes the service come to people at home over YouTube. That's all me.
If we fast-forward to 2022, Rev. Justin Cox, who had served us through the COVID-19 pandemic, announced he was leaving in early August. This jump-started the lingering thought of if I should join the church. Knowing that I really should get it done while we had a minister, I joined the United Church of Lincoln officially on March 29, 2022. Following that, I was Baptized at Pastor Justin's final service in August of last year.
This information is important because had Justin continued to serve the church, I don't think I would've discovered my gift to preach. Or write, or ponder topics of the Bible at all. It was the Pulpit Committee's--a committee that I served on--idea to not call an intentional interim minister, but to allow the congregation the chance to share from the pulpit.
Meanwhile, at the Lincoln General Store, the literal hub of Lincoln, storeowner Vaneasa had taken to calling me "Pastor Wyatt" as I stopped in for my usual, post-church, ham and cheese sandwich with mayo, root beer, and bag of chips.
Not only did she call me pastor, but she also helped me find out that it is a very real possibility that I could be one. She planted the seed in my brain to write a sermon. She told me, plain out, "I'm going to give you homework. Your homework is to write a sermon and have it ready by next week."
As anyone my age would do, I laughed this off and didn't take it seriously. Oh, but was she serious.
The next week when I showed up to the Store emptyhanded, she graciously gave me a week's long extension.
Again, empty handed, I continued my post-church pilgrimage to the store.
Again, a week's long extension.
This continued for about three or four weeks. Until I was riding in the car back home with my mom from a very unsatisfying dinner at a restaurant out in the "big city." (As big as it really gets, for Vermont anyway)
Like a river, a rush of words flowed through my head. Knowing this needed to be recorded, I pulled out my phone and furiously typed it down into a note. By the end of that car ride, I had just written my first sermon.
I then got a chance to share it on November 6th, 2022. I have since preached twice more, March 12, 2023, and June 11th, 2023. You can find video recordings of those services online at YouTube.com/ucolvermont.
I still continue to work as the A/V technologist for the church. I also work for Vaneasa at the General Store.