A little over a week ago, I mailed this letter to the members of our church and posted it on our website, announcing my impending departure as pastor of First Presbyterian next month. Still, I realize that even the most well-crafted letter cannot capture the depth and breadth of all a pastor wants to express as they say goodbye to a church they’ve grown to deeply love. To that end, I took a couple of minutes at the beginning of worship this past Sunday to share a few thoughts. You can listen to them here:
Later in worship I was moved, as I know many of you were, by Jessica Tate’s sermon on being a church in Exile and at a crossroads. If you’ve not had a chance to read or listen to Jessica’s message, or if you were there and want to experience it again, you can do so HERE.
And yet the day was not done! Our Beacons had their annual Mission Trip lunch; and if there is ever a powerful testimony to the way God moves mightily in our midst, it is certainly this. Later that afternoon, your session met with the Rev. George Goodman from Salem Presbytery to hear about the process and “plan” our church now enters; one that will lead to the hiring of an interim minister soon after my departure, and then eventually to the calling of your next installed pastor. As an odd sort of bystander in that session meeting, watching George talk and elders listen, I literally saw bodies unclench and relax – and felt mine do the same. These women and men had come to the meeting feeling the weight of a thing our church has not faced in over a decade; and as George spoke and cracked his contagious smile we all came to realize the truth we already knew but sometimes forget: that change is inevitable, that we always grow through change, and that this church would not be facing that change alone.
All of that, in one day!
It was our first Sunday together since “the news” broke; and while emotions are still raw, we were embraced by grace that day. And we still are. More than ever before, perhaps, I am aware of God’s presence in all phases of congregational life and ministry; when we are together and when we are apart. And that is truly a reason to give thanks.
As I said in my comments, we still have work left to do together, and then even more work after that. Thanks be to God for giving us a vision to guide us through it all! Grace, peace and much love to you in this time of transition,