Dear Northwest Church,

As far as I know, this will be the last time I am privileged to sit in front of you and teach as the senior pastor of Northwest Church. It’s amazing to think that nearly 28 years have gone by. When we came here I was 43 years old and we still had three children living at home. The oldest was 15 and the youngest seven. But now I’m 71, and our adult children all have families of their own. It seems those years flew by, but that’s not a sad thought because they have been good, productive years invested in the service of Jesus Christ. I would gladly live them again, only this time I hope I would learn some important lessons much sooner. Nothing exposes our humanity and inadequacy more than leading the family of God. But I would also say, nothing exposes God’s faithfulness more than our humanity, because in spite of our weakness He is able to cause all things to work together for good. So, year-by-year, though we have faced many challenges as a congregation, we have grown stronger and more fruitful.

There are simply no words that properly express how grateful I am to the Lord for His sustaining grace. Time after time, when I felt overwhelmed I would remind myself, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Php 4:13), and His presence would come to energize me and help me concentrate, the Holy Spirit would reveal the meaning of a passage, or His providence would send the right person or the right answer at just the right time, and Jesus would build His church so that the “gates of hell” (the plans and schemes of the devil) did not prevail against us.

There are so many people we should thank today that we would either be here all day if I tried to name them all, or I would overlook names that simply shouldn’t be overlooked. But please know that your partnership, your kind words and thoughtful gifts, your zeal for the Word of God, your selfless service and generous giving, your willingness to commit to this spiritual family and to work as a member of the Body of Christ, your open heart to welcome new people from many different backgrounds, and your willingness to step into missions and carry the gospel down the street or around the world are qualities that make our family thank God that He brought us here to spend this season with you. In the next few weeks Mary and I hope to be available in the gym after services to thank you more personally. But even if we do not get to speak to you directly, please know that we will never forget the years we’ve spent together.

I think most of you already know that I had a complication a few weeks ago that changed our plans for how and when we could say goodbye. As I understand it, one of the bypass vessels that was used to restore the blood flow to my heart collapsed, and I had a heart attack. But again, as He did back in March when I first needed surgery, the Lord provided and protected, and it appears that I have come through this event without any lasting damage. However, it did set me back, and I have been working to regain my strength over these past weeks. Because I do not yet have the stamina I need, I am delivering this message to you by video rather than in person. And I have also delayed being available after services as I had hoped to do by now, but we still plan to be there soon. Sorry if it all seems like I dropped off the planet. It seems that way to me too, yet during these past months our absence has allowed our wonderful staff to step in to preach and lead, and the men and women of this congregation to draw even closer as a family. It’s been an enormous relief and joy to watch Northwest Church continue to move forward, and that solidarity will be a very important quality in the season ahead.

There are so many things I want to say, but in the brief time we have available I want to touch on five topics: 1) principles we built on as a church; 2) key decisions we made over the years; 3) things our family are especially grateful for; 4) encouragement for the future; and 5) thoughts about how to receive our new pastor. In other words, we will look backward at our history and then forward at our future.

1. Principles we built on
• Make disciples, people whose hearts have been changed by God and who’ve chosen to be disciplined by the Lord.
• Teach through the Word, book by book, allowing God’s Word to raise the topics we discuss.
• Equip the saints for the work of service (Eph 4:11,12). We have chosen to hire staff to train the congregation to do the ministry and to do the necessary administrative work.
• Feed the Bride of Christ the bread (Word) and wine (presence of the Holy Spirit). A constant diet of those two elements causes believers to grow strong and fruitful.

2. Key decisions
• Maximize this site rather than move to another location and build a huge building. We didn’t feel God lead us to do that and didn’t want to incur a large mortgage.
• Hire enough staff to heal and train people.
• Intentionally become part of our changing community, become a church of many cultures.
• Place “open doors” in front of people, inviting them to serve the Lord as they believe God is leading them. We offer training, oversight, and prayer covering for those who walk through those doors.
• Invite people to commit to church membership.

3. Things we are thankful for
• A core of wonderful people who always loved and encouraged us, even during the toughest trials.
• A congregation that loves the Word as much as we do, who enjoyed going through whole books, who gladly provided the time to allow me to study, so I would have a fresh word to preach.
• Being located in a community that knows they need God and who are motivated to come to church without needing gimmicks to draw them.

4. Encouragement for the future
• This church has shown that it is a strong, mature community of believers. It has continued to move forward without a visible senior pastor since the first week of March. That is because this family is in love with their Lord and each other. You understand the importance of what God is doing through us as much as I do.
• The Ministry Directors and staff will be staying on, so there will be continuity, understanding of our culture, and a memory of our history.
• Northwest Church is a “planting of the Lord.” He is the One who brought a family here to start this church in 1980, and He has drawn people here ever since. What the Lord plants won’t be uprooted: “…they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified” (Isa 61:3).

5. Receiving our new pastor
There have been different seasons in the life of this church. You might compare it to a relay race: Mike and Claire McIntosh began in 1980 in a home and then moved to Olympic View Elementary and Decatur High School; Steve and Sue Steffy guided the construction through the first stage of the building process and moved the congregation onto this property; Mary and I came in 1991 and have been here nearly 28 years (August). We had the specific assignment to make disciples; and now the church is ready for the fourth leg of the relay race. Soon a new pastor and family will take this church into a fresh season of ministry that builds on the foundation that has been laid over the past nearly 40 years.

Much prayer, discussion and careful evaluation have taken place to find a pastor and family who hold the same basic values as you do. Our District Supervisor has invested much time and energy in the process. He repeatedly met with Mary and me, our Business Council, and our Ministry Directors with the goal that we will hear the mind of the Lord together. And I have no doubt we will. So, you will soon have a younger pastor with fresh energy and vision, someone who has also sought the mind of the Lord and feels called to walk with you into the season ahead. Even though it is time for Mary and me to say goodbye, it is also a time to welcome a new family and rejoice.

Conclusion
I have had a very difficult time even thinking of retiring, not only because we love this family, but because this church touches so many lives on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. I couldn’t do anything that might harm this fruitful community of people. But the Lord spoke to me last summer, and then again this spring. He simply said, “It’s time.” And then my physical body confirmed that it was time. I simply don’t have the stamina to continue. All of this, rather than make me sad, has given me a deep sense of God’s sovereign hand over all of us. He is leading both Northwest Church and our family. This moment of transition isn’t the end of anything; it is the beginning of the next leg of the race. We are Jesus’ church, and He says He will build His church. He promises to go with us into the next season. I’ll close with words from Paul which remind us of that fact,

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building” (1Co 3:6-9).

And now, may the Lord bless you, and keep you; may He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace (Nu 6:24-26).

Amen.