a new season in life

As many of you know, we began LifePoint in 2005 and for the first two years I worked full-time with the church. We had been granted start-up money that was used during the first two years to provide for salary, rental of our worship space, and other start-up costs. Beginning in 2007, I started working full-time at Blue Haven Pools and Spas since LifePoint was not at a point where it could continue to pay me a full-time salary. The idea was to draw my salary from outside the church while continuing to pastor the church as much as possible.

The last two years have been physically and emotionally challenging for me; the last six months even more so (click here to read a post from February about working two jobs). But these were challenges of my own choosing. I do not regret making the decision to work outside the church. During the past two years LifePoint has touched and blessed many people – people who are now closer to God because of our church. In 2008 alone, we had ten people decide to become Christians!

Over the last several months I have felt a strong desire to return to full-time ministry. Working at Blue Haven was always a means to an end, never the end itself. A career in the pool industry is not my calling. My hope and desire two years ago was that I would once again be full-time at LifePoint. Unfortunately, LifePoint is not in that position.

After much prayer and reflection, I made the decision to seek another pastoral position. Several of our LifePoint leaders have been aware of this from the very beginning. Last week, Tonya and I accepted a pastoral position with Mountainview Community Christian Church in Highlands Ranch (Denver), Colorado. I will be their Pastor of Spiritual Formation and share in the weekend teaching responsibilities as well as other areas very similar to what I had hoped LifePoint would have become.

This has been one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made. Simply put, our family loves LifePoint and always will. Without a doubt, it has been the best church experience of my entire life. While we are excited about the next season of our lives, it is tempered by our reluctance to leave people we love dearly.

Mountainview has asked me to be on-site by July 15. This means that I will preach at LifePoint through the end of June. No final decisions have been made about what the next steps might be for LifePoint. Several of our leaders and me have recently started exploring our options and would welcome your input. There are several viable options that we are looking into. I am planning on sharing this again on Sunday and would be glad to field any and all questions you might have.

This is an post I never thought I would have to write. While we definitely sense God’s hand in directing our path, we are accepting his guidance with a bit of sadness. As your pastor and friend, I have been blessed in untold ways over these last four years and wouldn’t trade any of them for anything.

We would appreciate your prayers. May God’s peace rest on you.