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today was one of hardest days of my life.  i had to tell my old church that it was time to leave.  this was a very new experience for me.  i searched the web and old books from seminary but really there wasn’t much help in either place.  secular websites offered even less help.  quitting a ministry job is very different than quitting most other jobs.  when you are

“living life together” how do you tell your closest friends that it’s time for your friendship to change.   i talked to several pastors who didn’t have any help for me either.

i knew that i wanted to control how the information got out.  my concern was that the rumor mill would take over and my true reasoning would be lost.  i also did not want to drop a “bomb” on them and completely surprise them.

i told the senior pastor and he did not have a lot of help either.  he has only served in a few churches during his ministry.  he has been the pastor at my church for almost 25 years.  he was supportive but did not have a ton of advice.

late in the week i sent an email to parents asking them to join their students in bible study today.  i wrote the email in hopes that many would read between the lines.  and many did just that.   then today i did a short object lesson which filled enough time so that any stragglers had time to make it in.  then about 30 minutes in i shared all that was on my heart.  it was so nice to just be open and transparent.  after all, these people have been in our lives for 4 1/2 years.

the nice thing, something my pastor pointed out, was that God is calling us away at one of the best possible times.  there are no major issues facing the group.  i’m not in any conflict with any parents or students.  the ministry is pretty healthy.  that is making this whole thing a lot easier.

so after sharing with the students and parents during bible study, i formally read the resignation letter at the end of the worship service (that’s when we do announcements).

God has been so graceful to us during this whole time.  today was no different.  there were some emotional moments and it was very difficult but we felt loved and supported by the church.  there are a lot of relationships that we want to maintain & are excited to see how God is going to move in this church.

still i’m sitting here tonight, somewhat broken hearted.  already missing so many people even though i’ll be around the next several weeks.

Tags: church, ministry, pastor, resignation, transition