"Shake the dust off your feet" and move on, Jesus tells his disciples after they are rejected. That is sound advice even in this day. But as we make our way out of town, we will have to traverse some potentially dangerous streets.
—Robert Kemper

We all wish it never happened. Pastors are hurt by it. Congregations suffer for it. The whole body of Christ aches when it happens. But sometimes it happens: a pastor is asked to leave a pastorate. To put it in business terms, sometimes pastors get fired. Like the crash of an airliner, the news is jarring and the effect on people is wide and most unwelcome.

When it happened to Peter Hudson (a composite of fired pastors I've known), he was stunned. It had never occurred to him that anyone as sincere and well meaning as him could be told by a group of parishioners that his services were no longer needed.

So now what does a pastor do? "Shake the dust off your feet" and move on, says Jesus. That is sound advice even in this day. But as we make our way ...

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