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To the congregation of First Presbyterian Church of Asheville,
I am writing to share the difficult news that I am taking a call to serve another church as pastor. Earlier today, the congregation of Northwoods Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas, voted to call me as their Sr. Associate Pastor. I'd love to share a little with you about why this is an exciting call and a good thing for me and my family, and about some of the ways we've experienced God's Spirit leading us to this decision.
But first, I want to name how immensely hard this is.
It’s difficult to articulate fully my love for this congregation and how impactful these past five years have been.
From the moment we first set foot in Asheville and Montreat in the fall of 2021 — when Naomi took her first steps during our brief interview visit — we have felt such immense love and support from this congregation. Josiah was welcomed and integrated fully into the Youth Group, Titus' energetic personality was seen and celebrated in children's ministries (and around the building), Naomi was doted on and encouraged, and Tracy was seen as and given space to be her own person, apart from being my spouse. Over the years, all five of us have been shaped and formed — on Sunday mornings and evenings, Wednesday nights, Koinonia groups, special services, youth trips, learning trips, Saturday Sanctuary, all-church retreats — in profound ways that witness to what Church is and does, at its best: a community of people seeking to faithfully follow Jesus together by loving God and loving neighbor, through times of excitement and inspiration and through times of messiness and challenge. Our gratitude for what these years have meant to us and our gratitude for you, we will carry with us, always.
I am particularly grateful for the incredible people I got to work closely with — my colleagues and all the staff, and the amazing number of people who make the ministries in the areas of mission and youth as outstanding as they are. It is worth celebrating some of what we've done together over the years.
I want to specifically name the faithful work of the Mission Committee, the Saturday Sanctuary Steering Committee, the ever-evolving Racial Justice Team, and the folks carrying out our Guatemala partnership; I want to lift up how energizing it has been to see those groups change and grow and thrive during these years that have seen an abundance of curveballs thrown our way.
Most of you know that the biggest portion of my heart has been with and has been filled by the youth of FPCA. When I arrived, FPCA had a stellar group of youth, and a "pinch-me-this-can't-be-real" group of committed adult volunteer youth leaders. Over the years, both groups have changed some, but those things have remained true.
I was able to share this hard news with many of the youth leaders and the youth, personally, at Youth Group this evening, and to share with them some of what my time with them, and what they as individuals, have meant and do mean to me. They love each other and Jesus so well. I have felt, and I know, their love, and I trust that they have felt and know my love for them.
I will be watching them and cheering them on from afar, boundaried in appropriate ways to allow their strong bonds with each other to hold and carry them through, and to allow the next staff person who gets to lead and love them (that person has no idea how uniquely lucky they are) to form and grow deep relationships with them.
Of course, I've also loved preaching and leading in worship, sharing and talking about movies that can shape our faith and inspire us, maintaining connections with our college students and getting to hang out with our young adults, collaborating with colleagues, and praying for and getting to know you all, the people of First Presbyterian Church.
In some ways, there is never a "good time" to leave. I'm especially mindful of some of the ways that this moment may feel like a uniquely challenging time to leave.
As Patrick said, over the coming weeks and months, details and plans will be shared with you, answering many of the logistical and practical questions this news will likely raise. Please know that I am working hard to pass things off as smoothly and seamlessly as possible, and that the leadership of the church is doing a tremendous amount of thoughtful work to ensure that the ministries I've been a part of carry on as planned. Most notably: the youth and mission ministries will continue to thrive and are in the capable hands of incredible leadership teams.
It is a challenge to leave during the middle of the school year. Adding to the ministry challenges is the personal reality that our eldest, Josiah, is a senior in high school this year.
So... why now?
The short version is that we have been filled with a clear sense of God’s calling me and our family to Northwoods in a way that is somewhat similar to what we experienced when discerning the call to First Pres Asheville.
It's important for me to say and for you to hear that I was not actively looking for or seeking a new call. I was contacted by Northwoods last November and did not begin to seriously consider the possibility for some time. After many phone conversations and Zoom interviews spread over many months, Tracy and I traveled to Houston together, and to my surprise, the Spirit's leading and timing were undeniable to us both.
This call and chapter will allow me to grow into pastoral leadership in some new ways that fill me with excitement and the kind of trepidation that confirms that faithful listening is happening. The scope of this role and the possibilities for increasing responsibilities over the years will be a gift to me professionally and to our family's life, together.
Northwoods, like FPCA, is experiencing a season of vitality, and their nominating committee is energized by the gifts that they see I'll be bringing to help their congregation continue stepping into faithful discipleship of Jesus.
And, of course, we will be significantly closer to the entirety of my family in central Texas, and to the TX Hill Country, where so much of our hearts reside.
As Patrick wrote, I will continue my work at FPCA until late November; I begin at Northwoods in January. My family will stay in Asheville through June, primarily so that Josiah can finish high school here. More will be shared later about the necessary and healthy boundaries that I and my family will need to maintain around the ministry of the church, but it's important to say that we neither need nor desire to cut relational ties of friendship.
God is up to incredible things — at Northwoods and in my family, and, we believe and see so clearly, at First Presbyterian Church of Asheville. That vital work and ministry will continue, even as some of it shifts and changes in the months and years ahead, as it always does when a community is actively discerning the Spirit's leading. It has been an immense gift to live the mission and ministry of FPCA with you all, experiencing the boundary-breaking love of Jesus Christ by practicing radical hospitality, forming deep relationships, and joining in shared ministry.
I truly hope to connect with you over the coming weeks!
With a mixture of sadness, excitement, and so much gratitude and love,
David
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