Kelly
07-12-2009, 12:03 PM
At our church we have two services...traditional and contemporary. I've been going to the contemporary for a while now (off and on for the past several years, and regularly since this past February). I LOVE the pastor for the contemporary service. He just has the most incredible way of challenging you to think about your relationship with God and your purpose in the world. He and his wife (who is our worship leader) went on vacation for the last month. Today was their first day back and I was SO pumped to get back and hear what he had to say. I roll into Bible study this morning & he comes in right behind me. We're all chatting like normal and he's telling us about their trip. Then as soon as the room fills up, he announces that they are resigning :(
It took everything in me not to break down all morning...through Bible study as we sat there and talked about it and prayed about it for the entire hour...to the church service where our lead pastor came and announced that his resignation had formally been accepted....to after church when everyone was going up and giving him hugs and I couldn't even bear to look at him, much less go near him without losing it!
A lot of what we talked about during our Bible study hour is how he hopes that we're not just there because of him and that we will continue to grow as a church. But the sad thing is, he IS the reason I decided to join. Of course he's not the only one. But he's the one up there every Sunday, imparting his wisdom on us so that we can draw closer to God. None of the other pastors there have the same effect as he does. And the one pastor who, I hate to admit it, doesn't do much for me...is the one who will be taking over when our pastor leaves. That's the hardest pill for me to swallow. It's like they are two completely separate styles. One pastor is totally laid-back in his personality but in-your-face in his teaching, and he's hung out at our house on several occasions. The other pastor is way too methodical and by-the-book in his teaching and not very personable. Not that he's not a nice person. Just that he's not very open and easy to converse with. It's very hard for me to accept that this will be the person leading us. I feel awful for saying that, but it's true. I'm really struggling to open my mind to the idea that he might enlighten me more than I realize. I hope and pray that I'm wrong and that I'm eventually able to do so!
So much prayer is needed in all this though! Prayer for our church, prayer for our contemporary service, and prayer for me personally. We all just need some divine guidance right now!
His last day will be August 30th so we still have some time. It's just hard knowing that each week we'll be one step closer to him leaving.
It took everything in me not to break down all morning...through Bible study as we sat there and talked about it and prayed about it for the entire hour...to the church service where our lead pastor came and announced that his resignation had formally been accepted....to after church when everyone was going up and giving him hugs and I couldn't even bear to look at him, much less go near him without losing it!
A lot of what we talked about during our Bible study hour is how he hopes that we're not just there because of him and that we will continue to grow as a church. But the sad thing is, he IS the reason I decided to join. Of course he's not the only one. But he's the one up there every Sunday, imparting his wisdom on us so that we can draw closer to God. None of the other pastors there have the same effect as he does. And the one pastor who, I hate to admit it, doesn't do much for me...is the one who will be taking over when our pastor leaves. That's the hardest pill for me to swallow. It's like they are two completely separate styles. One pastor is totally laid-back in his personality but in-your-face in his teaching, and he's hung out at our house on several occasions. The other pastor is way too methodical and by-the-book in his teaching and not very personable. Not that he's not a nice person. Just that he's not very open and easy to converse with. It's very hard for me to accept that this will be the person leading us. I feel awful for saying that, but it's true. I'm really struggling to open my mind to the idea that he might enlighten me more than I realize. I hope and pray that I'm wrong and that I'm eventually able to do so!
So much prayer is needed in all this though! Prayer for our church, prayer for our contemporary service, and prayer for me personally. We all just need some divine guidance right now!
His last day will be August 30th so we still have some time. It's just hard knowing that each week we'll be one step closer to him leaving.