February 2015
Dear SBC,
After a time of prayer and
reflection, Kate and I have decided that we will be moving on from SBC in the
coming months and I will be leaving my role as Care Pastor. We are aware that
this will come as a shock but hopefully our explanation of the journey we have
been on will show how we believe God is at the heart of us feeling called to
move on to serve Him in a new area .
Over the last year, we have had a
growing sense that God was calling us to go on a journey. As we talked and
prayed, we realised that God was calling us to move on to another area. After
prayer, reflection and wise counsel from a number of people, we believe God is
calling us to move to Hull and be part of Bodmin Road Church, a church reaching
out to the Bransholme Estate. They are buying a disused pub building on North
Bransholme, with the hope of using it to meet the needs of this part of the
estate and to hopefully, in time, plant a church there. We have been asked to
consider being part of this work. This excites us and we believe it will enable
us to fulfil our heart to be at the centre of ministering to and meeting the
needs of a defined area with social and economic challenges, enabling people to
discover their God given potential.
While it is a step of faith, we
believe we need to move on in the coming months. Kate will, of course, be able
to carry on her role at Smith & Nephew in Hull. Millie goes in to her final
year at primary school in the coming months and we need to get both girls
settled in a new school from September at the very latest.
We will be very sorry to leave
SBC but we also know we must be obedient to what God is saying to us. We hope
you will see it is the way this church has invested in us that have brought us
to the position of feeling ready and equipped to answer His call. All of us are
so grateful for the support, opportunities, guidance and love that have been
shown to us by you over the last ten years. It is likely that we will leave SBC
at the end of May 2015.
Should you have any questions, we
would be happy to answer them.
In Him,
