Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I am thankful to have served as your pastor over the last four plus years. As you may know, the United Methodist Church requires pastors to retire at the age of 72, and I have reached that glorious milestone. Therefore, as of July 1st, I will no longer be your pastor, though I look forward to continuing to call you brothers and sisters in Christ. Rest assured, I will keep you in my prayers and I ask for you to keep me in your prayers as well. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for me after this second chance at retirement. I am excited for you in this next season of your life together at Faith.
Blessings,
Pastor Peggy
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
(Ecclesiastes 3:1)
The verse from Ecclesiastes reminds us that change is a constant in life. With Pastor Peggy retiring, Faith United Methodist Church (UMC) is entering a season of change. Your Leadership Board has been meeting and having conversations with the District Superintendent so that we could express what Faith UMC needs and wants in its next pastor. As part of that process, the Leadership Board determined that we should request a ½-time appointment instead of the ¼-time appointment we currently have. The Leadership Board’s decision, after prayerful discernment, was based on a belief that our current vibrant ministries (homeless, thrift store and food pantry [through Community Support Systems]) and our desire to become the church God is calling Faith UMC to be requires pastoral leadership at least at the ½-time level.
The next step in the process is that the District Superintendent takes the insights from her conversations with us to the Bishop’s Cabinet. The Bishop’s Cabinet prayerfully reviews all pastoral positions and all pastors to make recommendations to the Bishop who makes appointments to fill the positions. Once the Bishop’s Cabinet identifies a person to potentially fill our vacancy, the District Superintendent will schedule a meeting between that person and Faith UMC’s Leadership Board. We expect we will find out who that person is and the meeting will be scheduled in the next few weeks. Assuming that meeting goes well, and it usually does, the District Superintendent informs the Bishop, who will finalize and announce the appointment.
In the upcoming weeks, we will be planning an event to thank Pastor Peggy for all she has done for Faith UMC and show her our love for her. If you have thoughts on what that event should look like and/or want to be part of the planning and execution of the event, you can speak with anyone on the Leadership Board.
Change can be scary and there is always sadness when a pastor as beloved as Peggy moves on, but we know God wants only good for us. As Paul wrote in his letter to the church in Rome, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” I hope those words provide some comfort but please also know that if you want to talk about any aspect of this change, Pastor Peggy or any member of the Leadership Board would be happy to do so.
We will make sure to keep you updated.