June 27, 2019
Dear Faith family,
I am writing you to let you know that the session has called a congregational meeting for July 7, 2019 following worship so that you can concur with my request that Mission Presbytery dissolve our pastoral relationship effective August 3, 2019.
When I was hired to be your transitional pastor, I was so excited that I loaded up my mother in Houston and drove her the three hours to Austin with me to see the church where I would be for a year.
It was when we dropped by the church and met Bob Bruce that he said to me, “if you are coming here as interim would you consider staying beyond that?” It had not occurred to me that that was an option but I lept inside as I learned the possibility was open to us and welcomed by the presbytery’s policy at the time. When your PNC finally approached me, I had fallen in love and of course said, ‘yes!’.
I fell in love as well during this time with my fiancé Nelis Potgieter who drove 100,000 miles over 6 years to see me and nurture our relationship. I want you to know we both have wanted nothing more than to have our cake and eat it too by both being residents of Austin. His discipline of statistics (frequentist) and UT’s (Bayesian) don’t always play well together so our dream of him getting a research oriented position in Austin so we could stay here was frustrating to say the least. While I regret nothing of the commute that has brought me closer to the love of my life, it strikes me now how unfair the commute has likely been to all of us.
The plane and automobile accidents a year ago made it prayerfully clearer that Nelis and I needed to prioritize each other. So, we committed to end the commute and be with each other from 2019 forward one way or another. After he looked in earnest one last time at the entire Austin to San Antonio corridor over the last year, it was becoming clear as well that Austin or nearby would not be our home at this time as we become a married couple.
You are a wonderful congregation. You allowed me to be myself and me to be your pastor. That was something I previously was not permitted to be with honesty at the same time. I hope in a similar manner I allowed you to be yourselves and helped you in some way to grow and embrace a changing and challenging world. Most of all, I hope I opened the door to help you embrace a deeper spiritual orientation alongside your progressive values. That has been my greatest hope for you.
One thing I know for certain is that God wants you here. I know from how the session has been willing to tackle deferred maintenance and financial challenges in the last year that the future of Faith Presbyterian Church is bright when we work together, with God as our light, toward a clear goal. I only ask that you challenge yourselves like this again and again. It’s God’s church and God’s money and this world needs your unique Christian witness now more than ever.
We will now need to say goodbye well and I will sign an ethics agreement with Mission Presbytery that while I am allowed to maintain individual friendships, for at least a year we will have to refrain from talking about the church and I will not be available for weddings, funerals, baptisms, or other events in your lives as individuals or as a congregation. This is so you move quickly on to relating with your new pastor(s).
Nelis and I love you and hope you will visit us in DFW. My cell will remain the same and my personal email is walkertexasrev@gmail.com. Blessings in your next exciting chapters. I’m excited for what God will do next in all of our lives.
With Gratitude and Joy,
