The country road was hilly and winding as I drove to candidate at two rural churches/ The scenery was beautiful, with only an occasional house to break up the pastoral landscape. There were no shopping malls, no closely built housing developments. On this quiet Sunday morning I passed only one other car.

I did however expect to see some indication that I was re-entering civilization before I got to the first church. But there were no gas stations, no stores, no side streets. Suddenly the church appeared. It sat off by itself, surrounded by tall trees and a spacious lawn. Cars were parked around the dirt driveway. The building was quaint and small, very different from any church I had attended.

The service went well, and eventually I accepted the call to pastor this country church and its yoked neighbor five miles away. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. But I was not overly concerned, since I had a varied church background. I had actively participated in a large multi-staff city church. ...