This past Sunday at the services I announced that at the end of this year I am going to retire from Westbrook. It has been one of the most difficult decisions of our lives, because both Julie and I love this church and you are so dear to us. The verse I think about when thinking about our community is 1 Thessalonians 2:8, which says, “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.” You have become so dear to us, which made this decision that much harder. But we have become convinced that God is leading this way and we want to obey. I go into detail of how we arrived at this decision and the plan for moving forward in my message. So if you missed last Sunday services and want to hear the message, click on the link.
We have never been in a better place as a church. We are at full staff and this staff is talented, called by God and passionate about their ministry. It is really a joy to work with them. We have 21 ministry leaders heading up all the ministries in the church and most are volunteers who give their time and talents generously. Our Leadership Board is passionate and committed to leading in this transition. So, I am leaving at a good time in the church’s life.
As the Leadership Board began to talk about my retirement, we realized that none of us had experience in successful pastoral transitions. So we researched and looked at options for help and we found NL Moore and Associates, a company that specializes in pastoral transitions. They are a great company that has helped many churches in this process. We hired them to survey our church and help us with the search. Our current plan is to hire a new pastor sometime in the fall so we can work together for a while then hand off the leadership at the end of the year.
You can participate in this important process in two ways. First, pray for the transition that God would bring just the right person to continue to build on what we have started. Second, we need your input into what type of person we need to look for and what would be important in our culture. They will be doing some listening sessions on the weekend of January 25-27, so I would encourage you to sign up for those.
This is an emotional time for Julie and me. Know that we love you and want to see the church thrive long after we are gone. And I will work hard to make that happen over the next year. Thanks for all your support and encouragement over the years.
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