The Green Room wishes to express its profound gratitude to God for pastor and movement leader David Williamson‘s five years of wonderful contributions to our blog.
David served as a pastor for 35 years and then served in various roles in the faith and work movement for decades after. At the end of his long career, he was – as he wrote here at TGR – “rescued from retirement” by a sense of God’s calling to continue writing on faith and work issues.
We are honored and humbled to have been used by the Lord to bring David’s work to our readers.
You can see the complete collection of David’s TGR contributions here.
Below is a selection of our very favorites. Enjoy!
A Grumpy Not-So-Old Man on Labor Day
David’s first post for us expressed his frustration with inadequate attitudes about work in the church and the culture, including its attitudes toward him as a man over 80: “I am grumpy because I think the church treats me this way – that it expects me to embrace this stage of non-productivity and ‘freedom from work.’ Yet I have energy, passion, skills, experience and a ‘calling’ – a vocation indeed – to express, utilize and employ in the world; to use, and enjoy using, the gilts, experiences and skills God has given me, and exercised in me and through me.”
This series of posts on work in the opening chapters of Genesis was translated and republished (with permission) by a faith-and-work ministry in Japan.
This short little gem of a post captures David’s gift for keen observation: “Two ‘world class’ performers and a ‘world class’ instrument were among the congregants offering their gifts to the worship of God. The person leading the service that morning was me, offering my position and training and certification as a ‘pastor.’ All of us are ultimately ordinary people who offer up our gifts together, in every context, to God.”
The “Little Saints” of Vocation at Christmas
On the custom of nativity displays in Provence including “little saints” dressed for their work: “Today’s santons – perhaps that is each of us – can be encouraged through these santons to look at our work as important, as significant, as contributing eventually to the well-being of the whole community. Therefore our working is itself a blessing for ourselves, our families, our communities, and even to God.”
Rescued from Retirement: My Calling to Write about Calling
One of the most substantial projects David took on here at TGR was a long series of posts reflecting on the book Make Your Job a Calling by Bryan Dik and Ryan Duffy. In this post, David reflects on his writing for TGR as a continuation of his calling after his so-called “retirement.”
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