Time to Change

I have mentioned several times that I have been preaching for a small church for a little over a year. After a lot of deep thought and prayer, my wife and I decided that it was time for us to leave this little congregation. So, at the end of September, I will be ending my part time job as pulpit minister of Mission church of Christ.

This was a very difficult decision for me. We love the people in the congregation and I really love preaching, but we felt a void in our spiritual lives. We did not have any families our age to get involved with as it is an older congregation. Our daughter was either in a class by herself or was put into a class with 5 and 6 year olds. Since she just turned 3, it has been difficult for her to get anything from the class.

Additionally, I have felt a little ineffective over the past 8 months. When we came to the congregation the attendance averaged 45 - 50. Within a couple of months, we had grown to an average attendance of 65-70. I was excited as it seemed we as a church were on a good growth path. For the past 6 - 8 months, our numbers have decreased to the point that we have been averaging 35-40. We have lost a couple of members to death, some have moved out of the area, and others have had changes in their work schedules, but we should be averaging at least 55 - 60. We have had several visitors over the past few months who were looking for a place to worship (including young families), but after one service they never come back. I believe that is related to the issues with the age of the congregation mentioned above.

I am not stepping out of service to our Lord, though. We plan to begin visiting a congregation averaging approximately 450 - 500, that has a good mix of age and has plenty of kids the age of ours. I have also applied for a part time youth minister's position, and pray that I will get that. Where ever we end up, we will be active. We have that void mentioned above that has to be filled.

Our hearts are saddened at the thought of leaving a small family, but we are hopeful that we can plant roots and spend a long time showing our children the value of being involved and active in the Lord's church. It was a difficult decision, but it was time to change.