The sacred relics of a lifetime of ministry

Two filing cabinets, one with three drawers and one with four. These seven drawers held John Zimmann’s 56 years of ministry—30 as a full-time minister and 26 more doing interim ministry and pulpit supply. Seven drawers.

What was Marilyn supposed to do with these rusting, sacred cabinets? Inside were the treasures of a minister’s life: wedding and funeral liturgies, prayers, calls to worship, sermons organized by the liturgical calendar. Seven drawers chock-full of papers, yes, but also family sacrifices, neighborhood triumphs, miraculous births, and words her husband had received from on high.

Still grieving, Marilyn had decided to downsize and move from Ohio to be near her daughter in Virginia. She’d already gone through John’s other belongings, sorting them into piles to keep, donate, or throw away. But the seven drawers resisted such simple categories. She couldn’t keep them, as space was limited and she already had enough mementos. She would be happy to donate them, but to whom? There are so many particularities to pastoral ministry that these files wouldn’t be much benefit to rookie ministers. That left throwing them away—but how could she discard 56 years of spiritual friendships? Marilyn wasn’t sure she could stomach the sight of a truck carting John’s ministry to the dump.