Announcement from Pastor Mike

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under
heaven.”Ecc 3:1

There is no easy way to make this kind of announcement so I’ll get to the
point. It has been my privilege to serve as the associate pastor for this
church since the fall of 2018. After much prayer, wrestling, talking with
my family and many trusted mentors, I have decided to submit my resignation
to the board as pastor. Please know that it is in no way because of some
particular disagreement or hardship. It has been no secret that the last
year has been very hard for me since Dave’s departure, and I have tried to
be faithful to what I felt the Lord was leading us into as a church. While
there were many times over the years I have felt frustrated and
discouraged, I have always loved this church and felt a call, burden and
responsibility to shepherd this body that I feel was placed there by the
Lord. When Dave announced his departure I struggled as to whether I should
step down at that time as well. While that thought has haunted me a bit
over the last year I still very much felt a passion and burden for this
church which has kept me engaged. It was about a month ago, when through a
number of occurrences over the course of just a few days, I felt the Lord
release me from this position. I have heard pastors say those words over
the years and to be honest I never really understood until now what they
were saying. It’s hard to articulate but my personal burden for the role
just seemed to lift. Please hear me when I say that it is not because I am
giving up, bitter, or fed up with anything. I still love this church and
want the best for it.

While there has been some indication of where I feel the Lord is leading us
into, I don’t pretend to have any clear picture, I just have to try and be
faithful. I have been in leadership in this church, in one form or another,
continually since 1997. Over the years I have served as youth leader,
college and career leader, Sunday school teacher, camp board rep, worship
leader, men’s ministry, board member, elder and pastor. For a number of
reasons, both in our personal lives, and taking into account the transition
we are going into as a church, I have decided to step back from all forms
of leadership for a season. Please do not hear me saying “I have done my
part, it’s time for somebody else to do something”. I don’t agree with that
train of thought, nor do I believe it is even biblical. So much of my
identity has been associated with this church that I just think that I need
some time to restructure our personal lives. I also think that, while it
might cause some short term stress in our church, in the long run it will
be for the best for this body as well.

We have no plans to move or change churches. This is our church, you are
our family and friends, but for a season we may not be around quite as
much. We had wanted to sit down and tell most people face to face rather
than a mass announcement, email or them hearing through the grapevine but
it just wasn’t logistically possible to visit that many people that we love
in such a short time. We would love the opportunity to have a coffee and
answer any questions you might have going forward. It is my intention to
carry on in this position until the end of June at which point I will step
down.

Blessings,

Mike, BreAnn, & Ben