Joyful to the end

Steve Hayner is the president of Columbia Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. He’s also a husband, father, grandfather, and close friend from whom I have mostly lived too far away. It now appears that he doesn’t have long to live.

We met over 25 years ago when he served as the president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and I was starting my first pastorate at a nearby congregation in Madison, Wisconsin. For the next five years our families met every Sunday night along with two other couples also in ministry. Perched on a sofa and some chairs borrowed from a dining room, we always went around the circle to check in with each other. I’ve wracked my brain to pull up those conversations, but what I remember is that I enjoyed being in a place where I wasn’t the pastor. This was when sabbath began for me, as I rested in the sanctuary of dear friends.

Over the years Steve and I have done the best we could at showing up for each other’s big events. I officiated at his daughter’s wedding. He was front and center when I was installed as a seminary president last year. He’s about ten years older than I am and was always a lap or two ahead of me in our careers. So I called him from time to time to get advice. Last February we joined three other seminary presidents in a van that rambled around the West Bank looking for ways to be of service.