Dear People of Lamoine Baptist Church,
It's time. It is time for me to seek a new calling. And it is time, too, I believe for Lamoine Baptist Church to explore new vistas, even as you celebrate your 200th anniversary. So with this letter I submit to you my resignation as your Pastor.
Thank you very much for your support-spiritual, emotional, and financial-since I went on medical leave of absence at the end of last August. I'm on the road to recovery from burnout, but I don't know how far along I am. It has become clear to me, however, that I should not plan to return to pastoral ministry in Lamoine. For one thing, I don't know how long my journey on this road will be, and I can't expect you to keep on hold waiting to find out. For another, there is the danger that if I do return as Pastor, I may fall back into old patterns of the ways I used to do things, and some of those patterns might point me back toward burnout.
Beyond those considerations, I think the time has come for me to explore other possibilities for ministry. I would like to concentrate more on writing and theological reflection. I don't know yet what shape a new calling might take. But I do have this conviction: I will have to step out on faith before God opens the way. The story of the people of Israel crossing the Jordan River to enter the promised land keeps coming back to me. The people broke camp and went down to the river. Only when the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the covenant touched the water did the river's flow become a wall of water, leaving the river bed dry for the people to cross (Joshua 3:14-17).
The America Baptist Churches of Maine, and in particular Paul Dodge, our Association Resource Minister, have been very helpful to me and I know they have been of great help to you also these last five months. They will continue to offer their guidance and support as you consider looking for a new pastor.
I would like to have a final worship service with you, perhaps on Sunday, March 1, twenty-five years after that first Sunday in March, 1984, when I led worship at Lamoine Baptist Church for the first time as your Pastor. I would like to gather around the Lord's Table one more time with you.
May God's blessing continue to abide with you!
David Paul Henry
Monday, February 2, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
