Au Revoir Pastor Steve and Claudia,
As this particular time of prayer and waiting comes to a close, there is an urge to acknowledge and remember this time we have spent together.
I read your farewell to the congregation Pastor Steve where you wrote:
The term "Bridge Pastor" was new to me, and I had no particular plan but to be present with you during this time. And it became apparent over the months that this is where I was supposed to be.
This was instantly apparent to many of us. You were meant to be here at this time. I felt it from the first time we talked. I wrote before I did not know the difference between an Interim Pastor and a Bridge Pastor. That is until you expertly navigated the Bridge Pastor role without artifice or pretense and, in your unique way, you demonstrated your genuine concern for Creator.
Your role was
different than Pastor Janell's or the Supply Pastors Creator worked with
for much of 2022. The Interim Pastor's role guides a congregation to insure their call process, and the congregation itself, is healthy. Pastor Janell guided Creator as our Interim Pastor. Supply Pastors provided the regular routine of worship. The congregation was thrilled and inspired by many of their sermons and their personalities.
You did something more. You braided us, your past history with other congregations, the scripture, and your own current spiritual life into a vision that will not be forgotten.
You said something that stuck with me when we were beginning to know each other better. You quoted someone who said "If God is absent from the world it is because you are."
God has not been absent from Creator worship and I think we have all continued to feel that recently in so many ways.
Godspeed.
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