My Dear Overlake Family -
After much prayer and contemplation, I've chosen to start to transition out of my role as Lead Pastor of OCC. For the immediate future, you may not notice much difference because I'm remaining on our teaching team during this transition. In the long term - sometime in 2020 - I'm going to step away from the many responsibilities of pastoral leadership to pursue God's call to build a speaking, coaching, and writing platform.
I'm not planning on leaving OCC, because this church is my family. My children found Jesus here and love this ministry. I love worshiping Jesus here. So there is no plan to leave, but my participation will ultimately be as a congregant, and not as a staff pastor.
Just as I feel confident God brought me to OCC 15 years ago, I now feel He's leading me onward. That's it. I'm not being asked to step-down and there's no reason why I have to. In fact, our OCC Elders have communicated gracious appreciation for the victories of the last 15 years, and have blessed me to be able to pursue ministry and personal priorities.
Speaking of our OCC Elders - God's beautiful collection of men and woman - they've been amazing. Sad and supportive, grieving and gracious. It has been a singular joy to lead with them.
These fine people will continue to provide the overarching leadership of the church. Our Organizational Leadership Team (OLT), comprised entirely of OCC staff pastors, will continue to provide day-to-day management of the church, which it's already been doing with excellence for nearly two years now - including last summer when I was on sabbatical.
Serving on Overlake's pastoral team since 2004 and as OCC's Lead Pastor since 2007, being a member of our OLT and on the Elder Team has been an incredible honor for me. It has grown me and challenged me in ways I never imagined, and at the same time placed me alongside dear saints and friends in the highest pinnacles of joy...as well as in the lowest valleys of grief.
I've felt my family cared for very well by the ministry team at OCC. Without question, I've been given the gift of flexibility to strike a work-life balance. The time to coach soccer, be at track meets and take my family to California has been very gratefully received. I have loved being on this team for the past 15 years, in both the challenges and the victories, and I do humbly ask that you continue to love and care for this beautiful church that I love and care for as well.
My heart is full, and though there is a bit of uncertainty ahead, I'm confident this is the right time to embrace this change.
I love you, and God bless you.
Pastor Mike Howerton
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VIDEO of announcement & elder prayer from this morning ]
PS If you notice I'm gone next Sunday, November 3, it's because I'll be in Kenya with Pastor Dan Hamer, lending a hand at our beautiful Kitale Project missions work there.
