HTML Preview Church Pastor Resignation Letter page number 1.
Dear Sharon Church Family,
It is with both excitement and sadness that I share with you today that I am resigning!from my role as lead/
senior pastor and discipleship here at Sharon Baptist Church. It has been!my joy and pleasure to serve you
and the community of Ola and Henry County for the last 23 years, literally nearly one-half of my life. During
that time, I have served in just about every capacity imaginable, and my wife has partnered with me in nearly
every ministry here as well. I distinctly remember in the early days when a elementary aged kid saw me
changing light bulbs in the chapel and exclaimed, “I always wondered what your real job was Mr. Gary and
now I know.” We have seen seasons of growth as well as those where the attendance dropped through a
vast array of experiences and challenges, and through it all, God has grown Sharon from a 100+ year old
struggling church looking backwards at a great heritage and a very indefinite future, to a church of incredible
people that is making a profound impact in lives around the globe today. It is difficult to believe that the little
church of 50+ people who had essentially given up following a church split 18-months before our arrival in
1991 has become a church where 700-1,000 people participate on weekends with an intentional desire to
reach those on its campus, in its community, and all around the globe. All I can say is, “Yea God!”
TAKE A LOOK BACK
Twenty-three years ago, my journey at Sharon began with a phone conversation with a man who was a
deacon and the leader of the pastoral search team for our church. My name was discovered by the search
team when Sharon’s interim pastor was handed my resume during a lunch meeting by a friend of my dad’s in
Alpharetta, Georgia. Later, the search team from Sharon came to hear me speak during a seminary break in
the June 1991, and following a meeting at a local Shoney’s, they invited me to come to speak in view of a
call. Following an 86-0 vote in favor of me becoming pastor (first unanimous vote per Mrs. JoAnn Sims, the
long-time church historian), I accepted the call with 58 returning the next Sunday. When asked, those who
voted and chose not to return informed me they would see me during Christmas, Easter, and for all important
church votes.
Now that we know how it all started, let’s take a moment and reflect on many of the things God has done as
we have all partnered together with Him in twenty-three years of ministry. There is no way to cover all that
has been done but here is a taste of how good God has been to us:
•
We helped this traditional church to become a relevant body of believers striving to know Jesus
Christ and serve Him in our local community, state, and world, where unbelieving and unchurched
people now feel comfortable to come to check out the claims of God and His Son .
•
We partnered with other local churches in launching 5 new local church plants in the southern part of
metropolitan Atlanta, many of which are thriving today.
•
We partnered with national churches in launching 3 international church plants in the nations of
Jamaica and Nicaragua.
•
Our congregation grew from 50 attendees to 700-1000 individuals attending on weekends.
•
We have transitioned the church’s polity from a deacon-run into an elder-led, team managed model,
creating avenues for our church to diversify the number and roles of people who are involved in
leadership.
•
We grew the staff from one full-time pastor to a large, dynamic group of dedicated and talented men