A Farewell Message from Pastor Joyce Rodgers Gordonsville UMC & Barboursville UMC | June 21, 2026
Yesterday was the final day of the 244th session of the Virginia Annual Conference. One of the very last items on the agenda is the setting of appointments — the moment when the Bishop’s Cabinet presents recommendations for every church and every serving clergy person in the conference. It is, in many ways, the most ordinary and the most extraordinary moment of the entire gathering.
This is the itinerant system. It was established by John Wesley, practiced by Wesley himself, and it is one of the things that makes us distinctly who we are as United Methodists. And today — you and I are living through one of its hardest moments. We are saying goodbye.
Grief Is the Cost of Love
One of the things I tell people who are grieving the loss of someone they love is this: grief is the cost of love. The only way to avoid grief is to never have loved.
The tears we have cried these last several weeks are not a sign that something went wrong. They are a testimony of the good ministry we have done together. They are the evidence of the love we share.
When Gordonsville Felt Like a Foreign Country
I will be honest with you — when Dr. Lee called me to Gordonsville and Barboursville, I was astounded. Shocked. Overwhelmed. Confused. Prior to moving here, Richmond was far and away the smallest place I had ever lived. Coming to this community felt a little like traveling to a foreign country. I spoke the same language, but at times it felt like that was all I knew.
For the first several months, what grounded me was simple. Not being a morning person, I nevertheless found myself waking at 5:00 in the morning, grabbing a cup of tea, turning my chair toward the parsonage window, and sitting in the dark while the sun came up. Each morning, God met me there.
As the months went by, I discovered how much I not only loved my calling, but how much I was loving our new home. The fall foliage that took my breath away. The mountain roads with their twists and bends. The foals and calves dancing in the fields in springtime. Running into Mike and Lois at the Vineyard and Susan at Pres de Pres. Peeking at Neil’s truck and knowing he was home. The beauty of picturesque downtown Gordonsville at Christmas. The muffins from Jackson and Company. The sunshine in my office.
I have even learned to be annoyed by traffic circles.
We came to a place that felt strange and foreign, and now even our puppies are feeling homesick for Gordonsville.
God knew what He was doing.
Peter, Cornelius, and the Itinerant Life
Our scripture this morning — Acts 10 — opens with God preparing two people for a partnership they did not see coming.
Cornelius, a Roman centurion in Caesarea, receives a visit from an angel instructing him to send for someone he has never met. Peter is going about his regular ministry routines, completely unaware of what is next, when God presents him with a vision that challenges everything he thought he understood about who belongs at the table. When Peter receives Cornelius’s messengers, he goes — not fully knowing why, but obedient to the call.
“So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection.” — Acts 10:29
Neither of them completely understood what they were meant to do. But Peter went where he was called, and Cornelius received who was sent.
United Methodist itineracy is built on exactly this calling and sending, discerned by the Holy Spirit through the Bishop and the Cabinet. Neither the pastor nor the congregation always understands why. But both are asked to be obedient to what God has asked of them.
I have no idea why God has chosen at this time to send me to Gloucester. You have no idea why God has called Rev. Debra Whitten to Gordonsville. But we know that God is faithful.
What We Have Done Together
Two years ago, when I did not know why God was sending me to Gordonsville, and you did not know why God called me here — the Holy Spirit was already at work.
Look at what we have done together:
- We welcomed eleven new members to the charge.
- We baptized three people and confirmed one.
- We enjoyed concerts with Ernie Couch & Revival.
- We studied and learned together — about heaven and the resurrection, Methodist history, grace, finances, and our call to love our neighbor.
- We celebrated Good Friday with an ecumenical community of believers from across our area.
- We grieved the loss of those we love.
- We gathered for Movie Nights and pancake dinners.
I could not have known when I arrived in Gordonsville what God’s plan was. You could not have known what work we would do together. And now — we look back in amazement at how the Holy Spirit works.
Peter could not have known, when he arrived in Caesarea, what God’s plan was. Cornelius could not have known what work he and Peter would do together. But then the scripture tells us:
“While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.” — Acts 10:44
That is the promise. And it is what we have already experienced.
She Is Already Falling in Love With You
This last week, God inexplicably had Debra and me cross paths over and over again — among about 3,000 people at Annual Conference, we unintentionally sat only a couple of seats apart each day, and found ourselves seated together at the same dinner.
In those moments, I watched her face when she talked about conversations with Jane, and Bobbie, and Connie. I saw the love she has for Gordonsville and Barboursville already growing. I saw in her eyes the excitement to find out what God has in store — to be part of the work that God has already begun here among you.
She doesn’t know yet why God has called her to this charge. And I know you don’t know yet why she has been sent. But neither did Peter. And neither did Cornelius.
And the Holy Spirit showed up anyway.
A Window in Gloucester
I have a window in Gloucester. And I believe that when the sun comes up over that water, God is going to meet me there — just like He met me here, in the dark before dawn, with a cup of tea and a faithful heart.
I don’t know yet what He has planned. But I know who He is. And I know what He did among us. And I trust that what He has planned — for you, for Debra, for me, for Jeffrey and Caroline, and even for Amy and Nuke — it is good.
Pastor Joyce Rodgers served Gordonsville UMC and Barboursville UMC from 2024–2026. She is transitioning to Bellamy United Methodist Church in Gloucester, Virginia, effective July 1, 2026.
Scripture Reference: Acts 10:1–16, 27–29, 34–44
