A Special Letter From Pastor John
Dear Family of God,
After more than 35 years as pastor of our church it is time for me to disengage from my responsibilities and retire. Serving Christ with you has been the joy of my life. What I wanted more than anything else on earth was to serve God with people I love. God has allowed me to do precisely this. I can never thank Him enough for giving me the privilege of serving in ministry together with you.
There is no policy or rule in our Presbyterian denomination that requires me to retire at this time, but when I search my own heart before God and honestly reflect on what our church needs, I know it’s time to pass the torch to a younger successor.
When I reached my 65th birthday this past September I informed our Session that I would not retire before the age of 66 and I would not stay beyond the age of 70. The Session asked only that I give them a year’s notice in the hope that a successor would be selected and ready to take my place upon my leaving.
Thus I will continue to serve and preach through 2011 and one month into 2012 - a scheduling arrangement that gives time to search for a new pastor.
CCCM is a well led church. The staff and elders represent gifted, dedicated, experienced and highly competent leadership. Jim Tirone, Dave Kupitz, and Kim Clevenger all have plans to stay. The same is true of other staff members.
Our Board of Elders is composed of our choicest, most mature, and best leaders. Looking to the future and wanting to expedite the search process when it became necessary, a transition committee was formed and given the task to make every provision possible for our search to proceed without undue delay.
Through their efforts we already have a head start on what must be done to prepare for our search.
The selection of a new pastor is one of the most important choices a church can make. Right from the start we must make this undertaking the object of our earnest and ongoing prayers.
Obviously there are many questions that arise as we enter this transition period. Our Board of Elders will be providing a resource in response to the most frequently asked questions. Tonight at our annual congregational meeting we will have time set aside for you to bring questions you may have for our staff and Session to answer.
So we have another year of serving Christ together. “… you have saved the best for last…” comes right out of the Bible (John 2:10). May it be that kind of year!
In Christ’s love,
Pastor John
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