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Want to Pastor in Maine? Prepare Yourself!
By Stan Friedman
NEW SWEDEN, ME (January 11, 2006) - Pastor Shelly Timber has discovered an
extra amount of determination is needed to pastor her small
congregation. That lesson came "blowing in the wind" over the past
several weeks.
Timber had been excited that a record turnout of more than 90 people had
attended the Christmas Eve service. The Swedish Julotta service that
begins in the cold of early morning saw a record attendance of 33,
nearly matching the congregation's normal Sunday attendance. Another 33
individuals attended the regular Sunday service.
That's when things started to turn ugly.
"Ten minutes into the 11 a.m. service, the snow started to fall," Timber
says. It kept falling non-stop through to Tuesday. By then 35 inches had
fallen.
The situation got worse.
Heavy winds whipped the fluffy flakes into densely packed dunes three
and four feet high in some places - too compacted for the usual pickup
snow plows to move. Neighbor helped neighbor as those with front-end
loaders and commercial snow blowers gave assistance.
On Sunday night, having had her mind occupied by preparing for three
weekend services, Timber began to worry whether she had enough gasoline
for her snow blower. Three times that night she cleared the 75-foot
driveway, removing a foot of snow each time.
Despite the continuing snow fall, Timber was able to make it out and get
gasoline on Monday, but decided after filling the snow blower that she
would wait for the 35 mph winds to subside. Finally on Tuesday, she
began to clear the driveway, but the four-foot drifts the entire length
of the driveway were too much for her snow blower.
Timber says she still was able to make two passes before hearing a
popping sound, which meant the blower's transmission had died. "This was
not good."
The situation got worse.
All the snow plows were committed for the rest of the week and Timber
had to leave the next morning to officiate a wedding in Delaware.
Fortunately, two men from the church loaded up another snow blower and
cleaned her driveway.
Things were looking up. Then they got bad again.
That evening around 10 p.m., Timber was packing for the trip when she
remembered the robe and stole she needed were at the church, she says.
That would not have been so bad except the church parking lot still was
filled with snow up to four feet deep. In addition, county snow plows
had pushed a five-foot wall of snow and ice in front of the church.
"But where there's a will, there's a way up here in the country," says
Timber, who has pastored the congregation for five years. Not to be
denied the robe and stole, Timber drove to the church, bringing just the
right equipment for what she termed her Mission Impossible. "If only
that theme music could have been playing during the next several minutes
as I strapped on my snow shoes."
With plastic garbage bag in one hand for the robe, shovel in the other
and church keys in her pocket, Timber trudged her way over the plow's
snow bank and across what should have been the steps, she says. A few
minutes to dig out room for the swing of the door and Timber was inside.
While there, she decided to take care of a few errands, including
watering the poinsettias. "Who knows when they would next get a drink,"
she says.
With robe now in the bag, Timber made her way back across the lot,
tossed the robe over the snow drift and snow-shoed back to the car and
was home within 45 minutes, she says proudly.
The wedding went off without a hitch, but three days later an ice storm
roughed up the town and a snow storm blanketed the area three days
after that. This morning, the area was expecting "only about four to six
inches," she notes.
It takes a lot of determination to pastor in New Sweden, Maine.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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