God’s Plans for Steamboat Rock Baptist Church
In the northeast corner of our church building is a huge rock placed early in my time here as pastor by dedicated volunteers and engraved with this declaration from the prophet Isaiah to God’s people in transition,
“Trust in the Lord always,
for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.”
Isaiah 26:4 New Living Translation
Nearly 21 years is a long time for a pastor to serve this church and is a tribute to the support and encouragement of the wonderful people in this congregation. However, it is a small part of the 148 years this congregation has been serving the Lord in this area and a blip in the plans of the eternal Rock.
The most important thing to do in times of major transition in our personal lives and in a congregation’s corporate life is to lean into this command to trust the Lord. Pam and I are more confident now than we were just two weeks ago that the Lord is leading us away, but I am just as confident that if the Lord is leading us away, then He is leading this church to new leadership. But just as Pam and I were in a fog for a couple of years about how this transition would come about for us, you may have the uncomfortable feeling of trusting the Lord through uncertainty. Trust him and the fog will clear.
Here is what I see likely as plans for the next season. The Shepherding Team will be working with our Upper Mississippi Regional Minister, Dr. Dan Andrews, to seek an Intentional Interim Pastor. Dan Andrews is a good friend who has a love for our church and a desire to see it continue to pursue serving the Lord. The goal would be to have the Intentional Interim Pastor step in shortly after I leave near the end of August.
The Intentional Interim Pastor will be an experienced pastor trained to lead a congregation through a season of transition and prepare it to thrive in the next season. They are not able to be called as the next pastor but step in to lead the congregation and the staff for the 12-18 months needed to prepare to call the next pastor. This timeline could bring the next pastor in during the 150th Anniversary of our congregation which could be great. We will have to trust the Lord for that.
The year before I arrived our congregation was greatly helped by the intentional interim of Dr. Jerry and Monie Fluth. Jerry who had served years on the mission field shared a file on his departure called, “Hand Off Notes”. This document included the PO Box combination, when the garbage goes out, when staff meetings were happening, issues he had been working. It was extremely helpful.
For my last three months as pastor, I have some goals that I will be working on and I will be developing my Hand Off Notes for the Intentional Interim. I don’t know who that will be. I don’t know when I will know, but I do know the One who knows and I trust Him. The verse before this declaration to trust contains a great promise that Pam and I will be resting in as we move into our own uncertain future and I hope you will rest in this too…
“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you,
all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”
Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)
