June 27, 2010
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Dear Church,
After much prayer and reflection, I have decided to resign as pastor of our church.
My decision to resign is not spontaneous, and my deliberations about resignation are not recent. Over the past three years, I have increasingly sensed the completion of my pastoral ministry to our church. Several factors may have contributed to this: caring for my dying loved ones over a three-year period, “burn-out” in the pastorate, a sense that the church might benefit from new leadership, and a tug that a change in my life might be invigorating for me. Then, recently, I received a call from a private school in Florida inquiring about my candidacy as their headmaster.
You might remember that, in the context of Judy’s death, I told the church that I had no interest in returning to the field of education. At the time, that was true; however, once discussions began with the Florida school, I found that prospect invigorating. That invigoration is also important in the context of my sense that I have become stagnant as the church’s pastor, “in the doldrums,” so to speak, which is not good for the church; therefore, not only my personal invigoration was a major factor in this decision but also my sense that new pastoral leadership could be invigorating to the church.
Five years ago, I did pro bono consulting for the headmaster of Berean Academy, Tampa, Florida. During this past year, that headmaster resigned his position, and his school board retained Bruce Lockerbie’s Paideia Group to do a national search for a headmaster. That search produced no results. Reflecting upon his previous conversations with me, the headmaster called me “out of the blue” about eight weeks ago and asked if I would be willing to speak with his board chairman. I consented, and that resulted in several conversations with the board chair, two very long phone interviews with the whole board, one trip to Tampa by me for further interviews and to visit the school, and one subsequent trip to Tampa with Nancy. The result of those conversations, interviews, and school visits was a contractual offer from the school, which I have accepted. I am scheduled to begin full-time with the school there on August 1.
I had three criteria in seeking to determine God’s will about this matter: the circumstances of Providence; the reign of Peace in my heart regarding my decision; and persistent, fervent prayer that God would stop the process if it were not His will.
With regard to the circumstances of Providence, as you know, one of my favorite proverbs is “a wise man’s eyes are in his head”; that is, a wise Christian should know how to “read” the circumstances of Providence to discern God’s leadership down certain life paths. Upon my interviews with the board and visits to Tampa, both the board and I discerned that my gifts and experience perfectly matched their needs, and that Providence had seemed to orchestrate their and my circumstances in such a way as to “make the puzzle pieces fit.”
Concerning the internal reign of Peace in my heart, as best as I can discern, I do have “the peace of God that passes all understanding” regarding this major change in our lives, the school, and our church. This does not mean that I do not grieve over my departure from our church. Much to the contrary, our church is the most important work of my Christian ministry. I could not possibly overstate the love I have for the church, or the concern I have for her in the context of my resignation.
As for God answering our prayer that He would stop the negotiations if such a move were not His will, as opposed to stopping the process, God has made it clearer and clearer along this path that such a move is, indeed, His will.
Because she loves our church, and knows the church loves me, Nancy has a concern that someone might wrongly assume that she is the primary catalyst for my decision to resign and return to the field of education. She is not. While I have shared openly with her my inclinations and reasons to resign, Nancy has left the decision completely up to me. She has been a wonderful sounding board, and has provided practical wisdom without interference or bias in the decision process.
Nancy and I are on vacation for the next week. God willing, I will see you Sunday, July 4. My last day as the church’s pastor will be Sunday, July 25.
I love you all, with all my heart. May God bless you in your deliberations, and may you join me in daily prayer for our church.
Grace and Peace,
hb
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