Dear Parish Family,
Patty and I celebrate in the Lord that September 11, 2021 will mark the 10th Anniversary of our first Sunday with you at All Saints. It has been a loving, thrilling, fulfilling, powerful, fruitful, fun, and Holy Spirit jet-fueled decade!
We also ache at heart to tell you that God’s calling for us at All Saints is coming to its end.
For 10 years we have tried to pour our souls and hearts into the faith and life of this family of God. Each day has been a true privilege. The Lord has prospered our ministry in every way imaginable. In fact, All Saints has exploded in growth, ministry, and mission. We have been transformed into a true Kingdom Church GATHERING in relationships, GROWING in the biblical Word of God, and GOING out into the world in mission. There has been no limit to God’s grace, provision, and power for All Saints.
I have said out loud over and again how much I love you all. Truly and genuinely. So, why would Patty and I leave? Simply, it is God’s appointed time, in several ways.
The Holy Spirit has given us a sense of spiritual and vocational fulfillment and completion. We believe that the principal things we were called to do at All Saints have been accomplished. In fact, the formal written charge given to me by the Vestry in 2011 has been fulfilled and even exceeded in every particular by the gracious provision of the Holy Spirit.
God also is pointing us to our children and grandchildren in North Carolina. For a decade we have been wearing ourselves out driving up to 8 hours each way to see them at every opportunity. Many are aware of the compounding difficulties presented by our grandson’s Cystic Fibrosis battle, coupled with Patty’s practical and emotional calling to assist as a Registered Nurse. She and I have spent Easter Sundays, Christmas Eves, Christmas Days, and other special times apart from one another, she in North Carolina, and I here at the church. Things have improved over time, in part by the wonderful gifts and assistance of parishioners, yet we are cumulatively travel-worn and simply need to be closer to our family.
Sunday, September 12 will be our last Sunday at All Saints. It is an enormous blessing and relief knowing that we will be leaving our parish in optimum health – Christ-centered, Spirit empowered, vibrant, growing, and in a prosperous posture for ongoing gospel mission. Our Clergy, Vestry, and Staff leadership team is extraordinary and qualitatively equal to that of any church in the country. Our Vestry, under the leadership of Senior Warden Tony D’Emidio, is in command and more than able to manage the upcoming transition time, together with the exciting identification of our next Rector. Bishop Budde and our Diocese have also pledged their great resources to bolster any needs going forward. Bishop Little also is always available to help with his wisdom and experience. Perfect. The Lord has provided and there is no reason for heightened concern of any sort.
Patty and I are grateful to God for an offer of an interim position at a small loving church that has no clergy currently. The parish is about an hour from one of our kids’ homes and 90 minutes from the other. Still, the idea of leaving All Saints is very, very difficult and anxious for me, being as relational as I am. At every turn of my life, I have found myself unable to leave any relationship without pain and feeling torn. I always feel as if I am abandoning people I love or being disloyal. I know better, and I am not that important, but that’s still how I feel. Saying goodbye to All Saints will be more acutely painful for me than other departures I’ve experienced, as you might imagine.
All of us must pray both immediately and continuously. First, in thanksgiving for all that God has done for our church family over our decade together. Then, for the Spirit-filled, bright, new, and divinely inspired future the Lord will provide under a new Rector in His perfect timing.
In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
With great love for you in Jesus,
Ed with Patty
