I was a 33 year old pastor. He was a 32 year old pastor. We had previously served congregations in CT, NJ, and NY. And when we married and had a child and things were crazy as a two-church family, we decided to try out serving in the same congregation in Northern Virginia.
That was a little crazy too.
Clergy couples are like other couples who both have professional lives except this is one of the rare professions that involves taking your children to work and raising them – intimately – with your work partners, namely, your congregation.
One of the few offerings for Clergy Couples to get together and talk, pray, figure out our unique situations is the Called Together Retreat at Massanetta Springs Conference Center every summer.
You thought this post was merely about Clergy Couples, right? It’s actually about Massanetta Springs and how that conference center serves groups that are often ignored in the Church: clergy couples of all denominations.
[NOTE: Did you also know that this conference center houses refugees when they first arrive in the USA? It’s one of the best kept secrets in the Church.]
And then there are also the Middle School Conference, the Handbell Retreat, and the Bible and Church Music Conference – what you would ordinarily find at a church-related conference center.
HH and I met some of the other unique people in the world who know what it’s like to be Married Couples in Professional Ministry, and it was my first experience (but not my last!) at the Massanetta Springs Conference Center. And now I’m asking you to consider something in the name of Clergy Couples everywhere.
This Wednesday, April 17 I will be asking you to consider participating in the GREAT COMMUNITY GIVE of 2024.
Whether you can spare just $20 or $200, I am asking you to consider supporting Couples Called Together as well as the conference center in general as we try to raise $100,000 in one day to benefit Massanetta Springs Retreat Center. I can’t tell you how much I would appreciate it.
Thank you!
Top image from Easter morning 1989 as Co-Pastors with an 8 month old.
A Church for Starving Artists 