Welcome summer

It is, I think, a very good thing that the age of parsonages/rectories is quickly passing. The notion that the people should 'provide' for their pastor need not include the idea that they let him live in 'their' home while he is their pastor. We all know the stories of pastors' widows destitute of homes in their old age.

The provision of a housing allowance with which the pastor goes out and takes care of it all himself is a good thing, also because, on the one hand, it forces the pastor to live in the 'real' world, and on the other, it enables the pastor to gain equity, as well as to take care of his home's needed repairs, maintenance, etc. in his own time, without waiting on the trustees. After all, those trustees have their own houses to look after.

Another reason this is good is that this pastor finds the occasional stint at home improvement a fine diversion.

So my blogs have been slower of late, because I've been up on the roof, fixing and improving. I am not trained in this. I have been learning on the job. It's rewarding, actually; especially when I consider how much I am able to save by doing it myself.

And now we arrive at summer's first day, always a welcome thing. Projects well underway, vacations planned, picnics attended, and roofs repaired.