Dear Christ the King Family,
Well, the time has come - time to say goodbye. I’ve been coming to Cumming from Dunwoody (about an hour each way) for four of the past six years. I am very grateful to God, Bishop Gordy and the CTK congregation for giving me one of the best parish experiences of my 49 years of ordained ministry. I only wish the Lord hadn’t waited until I had retired. But then retirement gives one a certain freedom not otherwise available.
But before we go, some words of gratitude.
I am grateful for the opportunity to have served this congregation at two different times along side the very capable leadership of three different council/congregation presidents: Mike Myers, Dr. Mark Spraker and Tim Beard. I can honestly say that they are three of the best council presidents I have been privileged to work with in 49 years of ministry. They, along with the council members who served with them, have weathered storms and brought CTK to a good place.
Over the past almost three years I have lead worship on 145 consecutive Sundays. During my first year we worshiped at three services each Sunday. Since September 2017 we have worshiped at two each Sunday. During these three years I have often also taught a Sunday School class and also led either a FUEL session or mid-week Advent or Lent worship service. Of the 145 Sundays, I preached at all services on all but nine occasions when Pastors Banitt and Eberhardt delivered the message. These statistics do not include special services such as Christmas, Holy Week and Easter. It was my choice to do all of this in that I believed that the consistency and regularity would be good for the stability of the congregation. I still believe this.
Also during this time there have been numerous funerals, some baptisms and three services of confirmation.
My main “crowning accomplishments” I believe have been going to two services (from three), bringing Chad Watkins on staff as Minister of Music, working to accomplish the goals of the Long Range Plan that I inherited, and bringing about VISION 2020 wherein enough funds were raised/committed to be able to ensure pastoral leadership for the first three years of the next pastor’s tenure. Thank you to all who committed to and are contributing to V2020. In addition to funds being made available for a pastor, many much needed capital improvements have been made.
But even more important, no doubt, was dealing with and moving forward beyond the disruptions that occurred in the two years prior to my coming back in 2016. Being the idealist that I am I would have preferred to have seen more tangible results from the consultation process. But hopefully enough issues were dealt with and enough seeds planted to bring forth fruit in coming years of ministry. It will be up to those involved in the consultation process to take their learnings back into their personal lives and the congregation and put them into practice so that others will also benefit from those learnings.
Thank you to all who have faithfully supported this ministry especially these past three years. Thank you for supporting our staff efforts to develop a varied cross- multi-generational program of ministry. I am extremely grateful for our entire staff who so generously give of their time and talents for the ministry of Christ the King congregation’s ministries. Please continue to support them in their efforts. Our present staff is by far the best staff that I have ever been fortunate to have worked with.
Saying goodbye is never easy. But now we must say goodbye. As much as Beverly and I would like to continue to be members of CTK, or return to CTK after an extended absence, it would not be proper nor healthy for the congregation nor the senior pastor. A new pastor should not have to function in the shadow of a former pastor. As much as we might like for this to be possible, it simply does not work in the church.
As of June 16, I will no longer be your pastor; Pr. J. Patrick Finley will be the pastor of Christ the King. The congregation owes him their full support and respect. Plus Synodical guidelines for the most part preclude former pastors from returning to or becoming members of their previous congregations. Beverly and I are fortunate that we live in an area of North Georgia and metro Atlanta where there are several ELCA congregations where we can worship and serve. I am sorry that it has to be this way but must be for the sake of the health of CTK and your new pastor’s ministry among you.
As I have indicated previously, I will not in any way interfere in the CTK ministry going forward. I will not be available to participate in funerals or weddings or any other pastoral acts. We will continue to hold Christ the King and members in our prayers but will not respond to Facebook or other social media requests.
Thank you again for the opportunity to serve Christ the King Lutheran Church as your interim pastor and thank you for your support and cooperation. May God always receive the glory from the ministry of Christ the King Lutheran Church.
I leave you with the words from
So Long, Farewell
(
Sound of Music)
Regretfully they tell us
But firmly they compel us
To say good bye
To you
So long, farewell
Auf Wiedersehen, goodnight
We hate to go and leave this pretty sight
So long, farewell
Auf Wiedersehen, adieu
Adieu, adieu
To you and you and you
So long, farewell
Au revoir, Auf Weidersehen
We'd like to stay
And taste my first champagne
So long, farewell
Auf Weidersehen, goodbye
We leave and heave
A sigh and say goodbye
Goodbye......
So long, farewell
Auf Weidersehen, goodbye
~ So Long, Farewell (
The Sound Of Music)
Pastor James A. (& Beverly R.) Clark
