After you say goodbye, what's next?
What’s Next for Me
I’ve been on church staff for the last 32 years and led the worship ministry as a volunteer for 5 years before that … so that's 37 years of continuous leadership responsibility. You can’t question my commitment 🙂
Now that I am finished with my Senior Minister staff role, I will take a few months off – a rest, a 'drinks break', a sabbath.
On top of the full array of regular Sunday church services over the last 30-40 years, I've been involved in Saturday night church services for 18 years now and double services for about 8 years. That's some crazy busy weekends. And a lot happens between weekends. Just like chefs know that a meal is gobbled up much quicker than the time it took to prepare it, so ministry preparation takes much more time than the actual ministry moments of meetings led, sermons preached, or people interacted with. My last sermon as Senior Minister only lasted a little over 30 minutes … but it took 55 years to prepare.
I am not retiring. Once our rest time is over, we will be open to any new assignments that God may bring our way.
What's Next for CityLife
CityLife is Jesus' church. I didn't start it. It was already 28 years old when I became its leader and I've done my best to lead it over the last 22 years. A new season is about to begin.
Change is not always easy. There will be some grief and some loss. But endings make way for new beginnings. Yes, things will be different but the church’s mission remains the same.
I've encouraged the church to give the next Senior Minister, Andrew Hill, and his wife Leanne, their full support, encouragement, and prayer. After all, church ministry can be quite stressful (see my next post: The Stresses of Church Work).
Jesus said to his disciples that it would be good that he left because then he would send the Holy Spirit. I'm not suggesting I'm Jesus (!) nor is Andrew the Holy Spirit but change can be a good thing. I’ve given 22 years of my life to this role and I believe I have brought the church as far as I can. CityLife will benefit from new leadership with abundant energy and fresh vision for its next chapter.
Coming Up: My Farewell Address