The two week notice is in and we’re off and running. As you may already know, my two week notice was to a congregation of about 50 people. Yup, I’m a pastor.
The difference is we own the church building, lock, stock and barrel as they say. We’ve become overwhelmed with caregiving responsibilities, personal responsibilities and retirement age issues. Our biggest challenge is taking care of my mother and father, who are 85 and 90 respectively.
Our mission is to Love God – Build Relationships – Change Lives. Part of this mission is to maintain the current events at the church, yet not host Sunday service.
I’ve found as a pastor, your next Sunday’s sermon starts as soon as you walk out of the church on the Sunday after you’ve preached. The next sermon seems to be a haunting, nagging feeling pastors must deal with as the week goes on. What to say. How to say it. Who are we talking to, and so on.
I admire pastors who have all this under control, but right now my wife and I are totally overwhelmed, so we are taking a break from Sunday service. We will continue hosting support and fellowship events; Ladies Group twice each month, Circle of Hope support group, Pastor’s Lunch and the Mens’ Group.
That will be the extent of our involvement with the church for now. We don’t want to close the church; we need to step back from the Sunday goings on. Additionally, I’ve ordained six men and two women to be pastors, and we’ve grown several people to be church leaders. This way the congregation can decide if Sunday service continues.
When I gave my notice, people in the church stepped up to take over pastoring and running the church which made me feel wonderful. I can’t wait to see how the church will flourish in the coming months without me at the helm. God is so good! ALL the time. He will ultimately decide what happens with the church. Your comments are greatly appreciated. GB