Thursday, November 03, 2005

Far Away But Weirdly Close

I didn't know Kyle well... I met him when Shari & I visited UBC in Waco, TX back in 1997. I'd talked to him a couple of times at emergent church leader gatherings. But that doesn't change that it was freaky to hear that he'd died as a result of being electrocuted in the baptistry of the church during a worship service Sunday morning. (You can read the basic story at Baptist Press. For the church's reaction/response, you can see their website.) A flurry of reactions have gone through my head/heart over the last few days:
  • Man, I hurt for his wife & kids.
  • What in the world are the folks in the church thinking? They just watched their pastor die.
  • Note to self: Don't EVER touch anything electrical while you're baptizing.
  • I wish I had an easy answer for the question "Why does God allow stuff like this to happen?"
  • Remember to pray for the rest of the staff - you've been through the loss of a pastor (due to his adulterous affair, in my case) and you know how traumatic it can be for those left behind.
  • I've been to that church - it feels weirdly close to me.
  • Ditto because I graduated from Baylor - and this was Homecoming Weekend.
For another take on this story, check out Dan Kimball's blog, Vintage Faith.

4 comments:

Barb K said...

It was so interesting to read your response. You are, too, connected to Kyle and ultimately we are all connected to each other through Him. Calling out to Him, again.

Barb K. (Katie and Laurie's mom)

Mark (aka pastor guy) said...

Chris Seay (the founding pastor of UBC) posted his thoughts...
http://emergent-us.typepad.com/emergentus/2005/11/chris_seay_reme.html

Anonymous said...

I didn't realize that you lost a pastor due to an affair. So did we. Hurts like heck. Lost the church as a result, too. It took a couple years for it to die, but it steadily did.

Can you imagine the person who put the mic over there and how they are feeling? my prayers for them as well...

GodFix said...

It's a small, connected world. Our current pastor knew (of) Kyle as well. If I remember correctly, Tim's father helped start UBC or was some leader there in the past.