STAFF CHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT

Rev. Scott Parrish will be leaving the Staff of Trinity on the Hill UMC in order to take a position with the North Georgia Conference United Methodist Church as a Mission Specialist (Associate Director of Connectional Ministries). He will be working through the Conference headquarters (now located at Simpsonwood Retreat Center) in order to equip over 900 local churches and 350,000 Methodists in the area of mission and outreach. This is a natural position for the Annual Conference as it grows into the Bishop's Initiative of BUILDING BRIDGES TO MISSION. He will also be working with the General Board of Global Ministries. His expertise in Missions here at Trinity has been recognized as being stellar and he is now asked to share that with our Annual Conference. I will miss him as a brother in Christ, a co-laborer as Clergy and a good friend. His last Sunday will be September 28 where we will honor his time with us.

 

 

Dear Mike and the Congregation of Trinity on the Hill,

 

I do have an extraordinary opportunity available to me to become Associate Director of Connectional Ministries for the North Georgia Conference with focus on mission and outreach. After careful, prayerful consideration, I have decided to take this offer and will start effective October 1, 2014. This has not been an easy decision, with our family ties in Columbia County and our long connection to Trinity on the Hill UMC and Augusta, but as my family and I continue to pray about this and discern what it means for us to follow Jesus today it seems like a very natural next step of faith. In fact, my expectation is that it will put me in better position to follow Christ and to continue to share what I've learned through my Trinity experience as I help other churches in North Georgia and throughout the UMC practice vital mission and ministry. This is not to say it will be without challenges!  So, in addition to being able to resource Trinity in greater ways in mission and turning to the church as a continued partner in outreach, I will also need you to pray, support, and encourage  me as I lead in equipping churches in practicing the mission of God in the conference and UMC. This should be a good thing for all of us! 

 

My role will be that of a mission strategist and I will be shared between the North Georgia Conference and the UMC's General Board of Global Ministries. This 60/40 split has significant overlap so that both organizations are pleased to be able to create something new and different with hopes that it will make congregation, district, conference, and mission agency all more effective in mission. The intent is for me to be well connected in many congregations and "boots on the ground" rather than stuck in an agency office. I never dreamed there would be such a position, much less this sort of opportunity, and in so many ways see the work of God in and through what has quickly transpired here at the end of the summer. 

 

Even while sharing this I again feel a deep gratitude well up within me as Trinity on the Hill has been so central to my growth as a minister, my experience as a mission pastor, and the growth for my family and myself as we have followed Christ together over these years.  Wherever I go in following Christ and serving the Kingdom of God, I will always take Trinity on the Hill with me and I will forever be indebted for the grand opportunity to have served in this church and community. Due to the nature of this conference level position the great joy is that our paths will continue to intersect as we serve in mission.

 

I want to express my profound gratitude for having served this church not just once, but twice! Thank you for your friendship and your ongoing help as I take these steps of faith. May the Holy Spirit be with all of us in these days of new beginnings!

 

Blessings,