After our pastor accepted a call to another state, local conference officials asked church members to suggest characteristics of any prospective pastor who would be considered for our district.
The list went on and on: We wanted our next pastor to be a dynamic speaker with a passion for evangelism and a thorough knowledge of Scripture. Some wanted the pastor to be young with school-aged children. Some wanted a middle-aged person with extensive pastoral experience. Some wanted the pastor to be older with experience in dealing with all types of people and issues.
Finally someone remarked, “Only Jesus could fill all those requirements.”
Immediately a booming male voice was heard from the back of the room: “If He’s available, we’ll take Him!”
—Beth Nelson, Clear Lake, Wisconsin
“Don’t let the cost of following Christ obscure the value of doing so.”
—Pastor Troy Fitzgerald, Walla Walla University church
The Adventist Review reminds you to submit your work for possible inclusion in a poetry-dedicated edition coming out April 2014. Items submitted are to be adjudicated by a national panel of professors and poets, within the following categories:
Free verse: submissions need follow no regular meter or rhyme; submissions may be no more than 50 lines long.
Formal verse: submissions must conform to regular meter and rhyme, including sonnets, villanelles,* and other traditional patterns; submissions may be no more than 50 lines long.
Hymn lyrics: submissions may be no more than four stanzas long; in case of
lyrics designed for existing hymn tunes, those tunes should be identified.
Further considerations: up to two pieces total may be entered per person. Submissions are being received for a 12-week period between November 28, 2013, and 5:00 p.m. EST February 24, 2014.
Submit queries and contributions to: [email protected], with the subject line, Poetry Special.
* A villanelle is a 19-line poem consisting of five stanzas of three lines and a final one of four lines.
