Jay is Leaving!
So last weekend (not this one, the one before) I found out from Dan that his pastor Jay has accepted a call to another congregation in Philadelphia and that he'll be leaving in just 3 weeks! We were both surprised and saddened to hear about this, as we are both close to him. It's especially hard for Dan, as Bethany is the first Christian community he really felt comfortable in, and Jay helped him a lot in finding his path. Of course another result of this is that we're going to have to find someone else to officiate at our wedding. He was going to give us pre-marital counseling too. It's possible we could still get him to come out, and just pay for his airfare, if he has time. In any case though, he'll at the least receive an invitation from us and we'll keep in touch. He said he'll talk to us before he leaves.
The church council is looking for another minister, but it's not going to be the same, since we won't know him/her as well. Perhaps Jay will recommend someone else. One of the ministers at Unity is another possibility, I just started going there, so it seems kind of soon for that. Having the actual wedding at Unity would be harder, because it is a much larger and younger congregation so scheduling is tighter. Not sure how some of Dan's family members would take the idea of it being at a UU church either (easier for them to deal with than a Pagan ceremony, but not by much!)
The church council is looking for another minister, but it's not going to be the same, since we won't know him/her as well. Perhaps Jay will recommend someone else. One of the ministers at Unity is another possibility, I just started going there, so it seems kind of soon for that. Having the actual wedding at Unity would be harder, because it is a much larger and younger congregation so scheduling is tighter. Not sure how some of Dan's family members would take the idea of it being at a UU church either (easier for them to deal with than a Pagan ceremony, but not by much!)