As I survey the nativity scene and the crowded collection of figurines that help make up the Christ’s child welcome party, I cannot help but imagine how grateful their Biblical counterparts were to bear witness to the in-breaking of God’s presence in the world.
With the arrival of Emmanuel, God birthed something wonderful and extraordinary in our world. Only a select few—Mary & Joseph, the shepherds, Anna & Simeon, and, in time, the Magi—could be a part of the inauguration.
Likewise, friends, I am so grateful to have been invited to see God at work in your lives these last eleven years. Without question, I believe that God birthed a season that was both wonderful and extraordinary. I am privileged to have come up alongside you, learned your stories, and shared life with you. It has been one of my life’s great honors to serve as your minister and to call myself your pastor. Thank you for calling me to serve alongside you in 2012 and entrusting me with shepherding the First Baptist Church of Sylva.
I believe that God has done good work in us this past decade, and we have been able to experience God’s grace when our horizons were darkened by uncertainty. Because God has proven to be our refuge and strength in countless moments and numerous ways, this is my hope: I am confident that the good work that God began in you, He will see it through to completion. In the months and years to come, it will be a joy to see how God will finish what He’s started in each of us.
So, as I conclude my tenure as your pastor, I am filled with a spirit of gratitude for the time we have spent together.
Thank you for trusting me to lead you.
Thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt when my efforts fell short.
Thank you for joining me in discerning God’s call, praying with me, and choosing to take Christ-like risks in partnership with me to expand our mission and ministry at First Baptist Church. I am grateful for the opportunities I had to learn from you and how we imagined what it looks like to be the Body of Christ in the time and place we found ourselves.
Twenty years ago, Rebecca and I discerned that God was calling us to be a family who serves together. First Baptist Church, thank you for blessing my family’s desire to serve and affirming our sense of call to answer God’s call. I am very grateful for Rebecca’s faithful leadership in worship these many years and for her wise counsel to our church and me. Additionally, Rebecca has faithfully served and pastored the Table Fellowship Class since its inception a decade ago. In all of this and more, I am thankful that she is a ministry partner who challenges me and continually shapes the questions I ask and the faith I seek to practice.
Just as my ministry has been more than my own efforts, I am grateful for Zeb and Ellen’s willingness and enthusiasm to be worship leaders and to be ever-present in my life’s call to serve. From assisting in worship to singing each week in the song of praise offering, Zeb and Ellen’s presence beside me has made me a more effective pastor.
My time with you, First Baptist Church, has changed my life. I will remember our hikes in the Smokies and travels to Arkansas, Washington DC, and Cuba. I smile in recalling the numerous ‘boring but important’ meetings we held and our innumerable attempts to streamline, spearhead, and spark new initiatives to be Christ-like. You supported me during difficult seasons. You encouraged me when I sought my Doctorate of Ministry. You cared for me when my father died, and you have held my hand as I’ve mourned the loss of my mother’s memory. Thank you for pastoring me while I sought to pastor you.
Without question, I am excited about God’s call to serve Wake Forest Baptist Church. But my departure is also a moment for me to consider the loss of many I have come to know and love—individuals who were with me when I started this journey but who are no longer with us. While I am grateful that the vocation of pastoring allows me to walk with people on their path for a season, I will concede that I often wish that these paths were longer. You can hardly blame me. As a professional shepherd of people, I delight when sheep are in the flock, and I’m sad when they are not.
Speaking of shepherds, I will always be grateful for the stained-glass image of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, that hangs in the baptistery. More than any other symbol, the care and hospitality embedded in this picture speak to the heart of my experience at First Baptist Church.
Alas, you are a church that has a gift for hospitality. Indeed, you delight in providing care and in being a blessing to others. This spirit of generosity will situate you well as you consider the path going forward.
I pray that you will know of my love and care for you as our paths diverge but head in the same direction. It will always be an honor to call you friends.
Thank you for being our family of faith, First Baptist Church. May God bless you as you continue to “Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.”
Thank you, First Baptist Church, for your extraordinary reception to our family on Sunday afternoon, December 10. I was overwhelmed by your thoughtfulness and all the work that went into crafting a thoroughly-baseball-themed event. Short of having the entire roster from the Atlanta Braves in attendance, you hit it out of the park! Thank you for the hot dogs, the nachos, the cake, and the singing of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame!” during the seventh-inning stretch. We will forever cherish your presence at our going away event and treasure your kind words and generous gifts. Please know of my deep love and appreciation for you in my life.
— Jeff