Changes...
It has been both a pleasure and an honor to live and serve among you, the good people of Pilmoor Memorial for nearly eleven years now. In that time, I and my family have felt your love and care and have extended some small measure of the same to you. We have shared meals, celebrated baptisms and marriages, watched teenagers grow to productive adults, and have bid fond goodbyes to saints.
Therefore it is with a mixture of sadness and hope that I share the news that our time among you is drawing to a close. On June 23, 2009, another will come in my place and will work alongside you for the glory of God. That same day, Mary Jane and I will take up new responsibilities at Seaside United Methodist Church in Sunset Beach, North Carolina.
The Ordained United Methodist ministry, to which Mary Jane and I are each bound, is an itinerant system that is part of the apostolic ministry of God's Church. The word "apostolic" comes from a Greek word meaning "to send out." And indeed we are sent out--deployed in service to the church and the world wherever God's will and the church's needs direct. The bishop, in consultation with the District Superintendents, churches and pastors, seeks to be obedient to that will in meeting the needs of the whole church. Sometimes this means giving us the freedom and the time that we need in one place to enable growth and to bear the fruit of long tenure. We have been blessed with that freedom and time here. But sometimes it can also mean that we must prepare to leave the familiar ground that has become home so that we may begin to plow other fields.
Please make an extra effort to be in worship regularly as your new pastor is introduced and other important steps in this process are announced. We have been assured by our bishop, Al Gwinn, and superintendent, Carl Frazier, that ours will be a very open process. Along with Karen Pendt, our Staff-Parish Relations Committee (SPRC) chair, I make our commitment to you that we will do everything in our power to make this transition as smooth as possible. We will be making regular announcements in worship, on Wednesday nights, in the newsletter, via email and through our website and Facebook page. As SPRC chair, Karen Pendt will serve as the primary liaison between the congregation, the superintendent, and your new pastor. Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me (scottwp(at)nccumc.org) or Karen (232-4047 or karen.pendt(at)ncfbins.com).
At this point, I simply invite your prayers in the weeks ahead, for your church, for your new pastor and family, and for our family as we prepare for this very significant transition. Finally, spend these days in a spirit of hopeful anticipation of what God can and will do here in the years ahead. Your best and most exciting days together in Christ remain ahead of you. You will always remain in my prayers and in my heart.
In the peace of Christ,
Scott Wilson-Parsons,
Pastor