So How Did I Get Here? – Part 7 e1 – Beau Goes to Church

Less than a year after we became a registered Therapy Dog team, my job ended at the church I was serving. Seeing God at work in this development, Beau and I were launched on an adventure we never could have imagined or hoped to have! After serving as a called pastor for churches in two states for over 8 years, I was asked if I would consider interim ministry. This is a specialized ministry also called transition ministry. Interim/transition pastors serve a church for 1-2 years after their pastor resigns. We are more than substitutes, however. We are trained to help congregations study their past and present, and then dream about what their future as a congregation may look like. After they come up with a plan for their future, they are then better able to call a pastor with some or all of the gifts and talents that will help them move forward and fulfill their hopes and dreams. I love this sort of ministry because it allows me to be a pastor AND to use my undergraduate training in systems analysis and design, and specialized interim ministry training, to help congregations who often feel lost and in limbo. I believe it is my call to reassure them that God is with them, and to work with them to discover what needs to be done to prepare for their future pastor.

To serve my first interim church, I had to sell my home and move about 150 miles south near the US/Mexico border. I quickly found a duplex to rent and Beau was welcome! It was near my new church and the neighborhood was near a university so there were plenty of places for Beau and me to take long walks. I started taking Beau to the office with me fairly regularly. He quickly gained a fan club. The church grounds were large and grassy, so he liked walking there, too. About a year after I arrived, my daughter was having a baby and asked me to come help with her older children, so Beau and I packed up and made the 1200 mile – 3 day drive back to our home state (with the help of my son and a friend).

Once my grandson was born and my daughter was feeling well again, I started working as an associate interim pastor at a very large church near where my children and their families lived. I rented a house where Beau was welcome. It was in a nice neighborhood and the house backed to a golf course, so we had lots of places to go for walks. While Beau mainly stayed at home when I went to the church, he did often visit at the office on days that I would not be able to go home at lunch to let him out, or if he was going to the vet or the groomer. This church was also a Family Promise partner. Family Promise works with homeless parents and their children, helping them get training, jobs and a place to live. While the families are working with Family Promise, they spend the evenings and nights at local churches who offer a safe place for them to stay and supper and breakfast during the week that the families are in residence. Staff and members of the congregation also spend the nights at the church, so if an emergency arises we are able to give assistance. This church set up 2 beds in the library for the chaperones. Beau and I were the chaperones one night, so we both spent the night at the church.

After serving at this church for about 16 months, my time there ended. I had now served two very different churches as an interim pastor, and I loved this sort of ministry, so I registered to take the classes to become a permanent trained interim/transition pastor. Soon after I registered for the classes, I was asked to serve as the associate interim pastor in a very large church about 1600 miles from where I was living. So, I packed up the car with my stuff and Beau, and we were on the road once again, moving to a new city in the Midwest (again with the help of my son). This was quite a change for both of us. After living in the desert southwest which is generally very hot and dry, we were moving (in December) to a city where below freezing temperatures were the norm during the winter months! The staff at the church arranged for me to stay in a dog-friendly suites hotel until I could find a place to rent. Since no one would rent to me with a large (75 lb) dog, we ended up living in that hotel for a year. The staff moved us to 4 different rooms during that time, most of them being upstairs. And the stairs were outdoors, so Beau and I had plenty of practice not falling on icy steps! He was such a good boy! Once I got him boots (so his feet wouldn’t freeze in below zero temps) and a coat, he had to learn to take one step at a time and wait for me. My biggest goal was not falling because of the ice and snow and I succeeded!

Since we were living in a hotel for the year we were there, I took Beau to the church with me on Fridays so that the staff of the hotel could clean my room. Beau quickly gained a fan club of all ages. The daughter of the secretary of another church who shared our offices loved to come visit Beau. One of the custodians used to leave doggie treats on my desk, as did several other people. One lady surprised me with a Christmas stocking she made for Beau! I will always treasure this gift!

After a beautiful spring and summer, I was not ready to spend another winter in the bitter cold, so when my contract ended, we made the trek back to the desert. We stopped to visit my aunts who lived on the family farm. Dogs were never allowed in my grandmother’s house, with a few exceptions. Beau was one who earned the exception! We spent the night with him sleeping on my bed before continuing our journey.

Soon after I returned home, I received a call from a synod on the East Coast asking me if I would be willing to go there to serve as interim to another congregation. So, Beau and I got back in the car to travel East… this time it was a 2300+ mile journey. I’m sure Beau wondered where we were going and if this ride would ever end. But he was a champ! (By the way, La Quinta’s across the US allow dogs in their rooms. We have stayed in many during our journeys). After 5.5 days in the car, we finally arrived at the Atlantic Ocean. Beau was not a fan of the beach, or I should say the water lapping on the shore. We arrived in mid-2019. My contract was for a year… and could be extended, if all parties agreed.

I think I liked living on the East Coast better than anywhere else. The winters were mild compared to the Midwest, and the summers were hot but not nearly as hot as the desert. We had more rain (and even a hurricane) so the landscape was lush and green. Again, Beau quickly gained a fan club since he went to the church every time I did. We lived in the parsonage next door to the church so he was my walking commute companion.

In March 2020, I was visiting my family and Beau was staying in a doggie motel. Then, the Covid-19 pandemic hit. I was all the way across the US and wondering if or how I would be able to get back to my church and of course, Beau. The airlines were talking about shutting down. The flight I had booked was cancelled. Fortunately I was able to book another flight and had the eerie experience of flying for 5 hours and through Atlanta in order to get home. I say eerie because the airports were deserted… and the few people who were there were silent. No one was talking and everyone was staying as far away from one another as possible. This was before we knew to wear masks. So I guess it was eerie and scary. I made it home, though. I went to pick up Beau the next morning. The office door to the kennel was locked. A sign outside directed me to call and they would come get my card to pay my bill and then would bring Beau to me. What the next couple of years would look like had begun.

So, I was nearly 2300 miles from my family, and the people in my congregation were following the rules. We closed the church and went online for everything. The church secretary came in one day a week to pick up mail and take care of necessary business, but for the most part, Beau and I were on our own. The joy of having him with me really hit home. Ministry by nature can be lonely… interim ministry even more so, because you are only with a church for about a year or so, and you don’t build the deep relationships with members that you will when you are their long-term called pastor. Don’t get me wrong… the people were very loving and caring of Beau and me. But we were all in never charted waters and thus had to err on the side of safety, which meant we stayed away from one another. Beau was my constant companion and I truthfully don’t know how I well I would have stood the isolation if I hadn’t had him with me.

The social distancing was hard on him, too. He was a “people” dog and sorely missed all the attention that the members gave him on a daily basis. Every morning at 9 am, the time we usually walked over to the office and stayed a few hours, he would come stand in front of me and stare at me. He was telling me “it’s time to leave.” But I would answer, “Sorry, Beau, no one will be there today.”

By summer, the church had managed to go through the entire call process for a permanent pastor on Zoom (first time ever!) and it was time for Beau and me to head back to the desert.

Since the congregation couldn’t have a farewell for me (which is common when an interim pastor leaves) they decided to have a drive-through farewell for Beau and me. I truly think they were sadder to say goodbye to Beau. He had touched so many lives.

When I knew my time would be ending there, I had been in conversation for several weeks with another synod who wanted me to come serve a church that needed someone to work with them for about 3 years. I had the skill set that they were looking for. However, it’s unusual for an interim assignment to last that long, but this congregation had some unique things that they needed to work through before calling their next permanent pastor. I was eager for the challenge! And, I wouldn’t have to travel as far as I would if I was going back to the desert. But, because of the pandemic, and because the next church was even farther away from my family in the southwest, they urged me to come home. They were concerned that if the airlines did shut down and I needed help, or they needed to help with Beau, they wouldn’t be able to come to me quickly. (It would have been more than 5 days drive by car). So, I reluctantly, but wisely, decided to turn down the opportunity, and Beau and I drove the 5 days home.

This saga will continue and perhaps conclude with the next episode. Perhaps take a break is better terminology, because when I serve my next as yet undetermined congregation as an interim, I hope to have more stories with my next Therapy Dog.

Thanks for continuing to follow with me. If you have ever loved and lost a dog, you will understand.