Clergy Appreciation Month 2: In 1986, with a newly conferred Master of Divinity degree, I was appointed to a church in south central Mississippi with “great potential.” I was not yet fluent in “DS Speak,” so I didn’t know what that meant. I soon learned. That church was riven by interpersonal conflicts that LONG pre-dated my arrival, but which, nevertheless, became MY problems. The saving grace of that experience was that the pastor of the County Seat church, Tom Cupit, and a retired, but still “active,” pastor N.A. Dickson were in my corner. I soon became familiar with another pastor serving at the other end of the District, Tom Pace. They affirmed me, personally, and what I was trying to find my way through. Another retired pastor, Bernard Walton, who was my immediate predecessor in that appointment, also affirmed me and gave needed support and information. I also became acquainted with the other two “Probationary Members” (people ordained Deacons, but not yet Elders and not yet “Members in Full Connection.”) in the District. They were John Robert Hall and Rob Gill. I was also assigned a “mentor,” Bill Lowry, pastor of a large church two counties away. These folks helped keep my first year as a pastor under appointment from becoming my last. Kimberly PaceKen PaceRob GillJohn Robert Hall