100 Things I Love About Korea: #82 - Our Advisory Council

At KNU International English Church, our church board is called the Advisory Council.  Down through the years, this rotating group of leaders has joined hands with me in leading our church.  Together, we have put our ears to the wind to see how God is leading us.
This year, God has blessed us with our strongest Advisory Council ever.  75% of this group has served on the Advisory Council in previous years, and they are well equipped to guide our church through this time of transition.
This past Sunday, I delivered my official letter of resignation to the Advisory Council.  I hope it will help you see why I love them.

Dear Advisory Council,

Now, with a heart full of both sadness and anticipation, the time has come for me to submit my official resignation as lead pastor of KNU International English Church, effective February 28.  I have spent 25% of my life in Korea, 75% of my adult working life, and 100% of my full-time ministry as a pastor.

This is my last opportunity to address you as the elected leaders of our church, so I want to leave with a few parting words of advice and some well earned thank-you’s.  Let’s start with the advice.

The Hard Part - We're Moving

[I shared this at our church's annual meeting October 21.  I announced our plans in the worship service today, October 28.  I'm posting it now so that anyone who missed the meeting can read the full explanation.]

I’ve saved the hard part of the meeting for the end.  There is no easy way to do this, so I’ll just get started.  After much prayer and consideration, our family has decided to move back to the USA.  I have accepted a position at a Nazarene church near Chicago.  I will be an associate pastor, with an emphasis on missions and missional communities.  We expect to leave in late February, and in the meantime, I’ll be helping our church here prepare for the transition.

After some of my teasing sermon illustrations in the past, I feel like I should take a moment now to say that this is not a joke or a clever lead-in for a point later.  This is real.  For the rest of this time, I want to talk about four basic points

• Why we are moving at this time
• Why we are moving to this place
• Some confirmations I’ve experienced
• What’s next for our KNU International English Church.

I hope these will answer most of your questions, but after I’m done we will take time for some questions as well.