Announcement from Rich & Alex Webb

Dear Scunthorpe Baptist Church,

We wanted to put in writing the announcement made on the morning of 15 March 2015, both to be clear about what we have said and also to enable those not present to know what was announced.

During this week I accepted the call to be the Senior Pastor of Upton Vale Baptist Church (UVBC), Torquay and as a result I have handed my resignation as the Lead Pastor of SBC to Paul Clark, the Chairman of the Trustees. Though there is clearly much that is yet to be organised, our intention is to move over the summer.

We recognise that this may be a shock and that you may have questions. Please feel free to ask us whatever you need to, but we hope that the following may make things a little clearer.

First, we love SBC and we are really sad to be leaving. We have felt such love and support during our 10 years here and had come to believe that we would be here forever, which is not something that felt like a tough calling! We are so grateful to God for all that we have been through together and all the awesome ways in which we have seen the Kingdom come.

Second, through bible verses, prophecy, wise counsel and other circumstances God has made it clear to us that it is time for a new season, both in our lives and in the life of SBC. Though we have been sensing God’s unsettling we did not enter into the Baptist Union’s formal process for finding a new church, but were approached by a Regional Minister and asked to consider the role at UVBC. As a result of pursuing that possibility it became still clearer that God was calling us to something new. This was confirmed by the members of UVBC voting with an overwhelming majority to call us to minister there.

Third, we will not play any part in the process of discerning who will be the next Lead Pastor at SBC. This is not because it is unimportant to us; in fact we care deeply about it and believe that there are exciting things to come for you in the future. Nor is it because we don’t have a view on what the right thing is. It is simply because we believe that ministry should be ‘freely offered and received’ and that that it is therefore right that the local church discern the way forward without outside influence or perceived pressure.

We will continue to pray for God to do great things at SBC, believing that though this is the end of a season, it is also the beginning of a new and exciting era in the life of the church. Thank you for your love, support and prayers for us over this past decade.

Rich and Alex Webb