Don’t
Drop
the
Baton!
By Bishop Matt Whitehead
I was a sprinter. Our local paper in Redford, Michigan, referred to me as “the
clumsy sprinter.” Needless to say, I didn’t have that moniker embroidered on
my high school letterman’s jacket. However, it was a fairly accurate description
of my unorthodox running style.
Relays were my favorite event. I was often the anchor (last runner) and felt the
pressure of winning was on me. The performance of the first three runners was
critical, but there was a sense of overwhelming responsibility as the last runner.
The short distance relays can be won, or lost, in the exchange of the baton. We’d
practice that exchange over and over, day after day. The coach’s advice was always
the same, “Don’t drop the baton!”
The theme of this month’s LIGHT + LIFE is “Bridging Generations.” I like
what Free Methodist Church – USA Communications Director Brett Heintzman
pg. 6 — lightandlifemagazine.com
Bishop Matt Whitehead, D.Min.,
oversees Free Methodist ministries
in the Western United States and
also in Africa. He was elected the
lead bishop of the Free Methodist
Church – USA at General
Conference 2019. He previously
served more than 20 years as
the superintendent of the Pacific
Northwest Conference after 17 years
as a local church pastor.
/lightandlifemagazine.com