Last Saturday I attended a gathering of the clan. The occasion was a Memorial Service in honor of Rev. Frank Leach. Frank had served (along with his gracious wife Barbara) honorably and with distinction for well over 40 years. Many remember with deep appreciation his tenure as Senior Pastor at Polytechnic UMC. More recently I had the joy of appointing him to serve as interim pastor at University UMC in Fort Worth along with Rev. Bob Weathers.
As I gazed out over the congregation the sense of the family or clan gathered to honor one of our own was palpable. Seated in the full Sanctuary were clergy who had led (and are leading) Central Texas Conference for decades. With them were lay leaders who had (and still are!) serving the cause of Christ through their local church and the Conference. As I stood before the gathered clan and reflected on both Frank & us gathered as a Christian community, the words that sprang to my mine came from the first verse of "For All the Saints." "For all the saints who from their labors rest who thee by faith before the world confess, thy name of Jesus be forever blessed!"
I think it was Victor Hugo who said, "if we see far, it is because we stand on the shoulders of giants." It struck me forcibly that we as a faith community, a gathering of the clan of Christ, stand on the collective shoulders of giants. For this I am profoundly grateful.