Retirement Announcement: 1 Year Away (D.V.)

This is the letter I read to my church today for those who might be interested. 

May 10, 2015

Dearest Church Family,

Thirty-one years ago this Wednesday our little family arrived in Beaumont on a Sunday morning in the middle of church. We had come to accept the call of this church to be the Senior Pastor following the wonderful ministry of Cliff Howery. These years have been a lifetime of blessing for the Price’s. So it is with deep and profound gratitude to God for His goodness to us that we announce that May 15, 2016, our 32^nd Anniversary as your Pastor, will be my last day as Senior Pastor of Fellowship in the Pass Church. That’s one year from now, Lord willing.

For some time now we have sensed the Lord moving us in this direction and we believe this is pleasing to Him. We are convinced that the time has come for us to plan to move on from our places of leadership to find what God has next for us in His service. We are not ready to stop. But we are ready to change. We really do not know what the future holds but we do know Who holds the future.

Why are we doing this? Simply put, we are convinced this is what is best for the church. Thirty-two years will be long enough. Thankfully, no one has encouraged me to step down…yet. But over three years ago I introduced the idea of a transition to the Elders and, after much prayer and discussion, we agreed that this would be the wisest way to shepherd the church from one Senior Pastor to the next. We will be bringing a recommendation to you next month concerning this transition.

How does one know when it’s time to leave? Believe me, there is no objective decision making process. Selfishly, we would like it to be at a time when the response of the church is more regret than relief. Spiritually, we are convinced this is God’s will for us at this time.

So thank you for giving us the privilege of serving you all these years. We excitedly anticipate what God has next for us and for the church. We love you more than you can know. We pray that this next year will be the best yet. We covet your prayers, love and support as we move ahead during this year of transition and afterward.

In His Grace,

Walter & Janet