On August 15, 2010, after a little over 40 years in pastoral ministry, I announced my resignation from the pulpit of the Metrowest International Church of the Nazarene. It was a bitter sweet day. You don't spend six years with people and not develop relationships and feelings. There were five other such moments of blended joy and pain across the years but this one was different.
There was not another church to become excited about, no new people to meet, no new shared vision of the future, just the wide open future of "retirement". So many questions, so few answers! But all the particulars will be the subject of a future blog. For now I just want to say a few words to any "laypersons" reading these words.
Let me tell you what it feels like to resign a pastorate. It is a wonderful, exciting time knowing that you are being to His plan for your life, it is a frightening and tense time not knowing exactly what the future holds, and it is a time of heartbreak and sadness knowing that you will be saying goodbye to so many you had helped along their spiritual journey.
It is the best of times and the worst of times.
If your pastor resigns remember all the emotions he is going through and support him with your prayers and affirmation. His mind is running a hundred miles an hour and he is trying his best to say and do the right things so that the one who follows him will be able to pick up where he left off and continue to build the Kingdom. He wants to leave with grace and dignity. Help him be able to do so.
The one thing that I would remind you is that, if the Lord is being honored, the BEST IS YET TO COME for both the congregation and the pastor. Remember that Paul said "all things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are the called according to His purpose.
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