Dear church family,
What an amazing weekend we had together this past weekend! After months of meeting online and a couple of weekends of meeting outside, it was such a joy to come back inside our building and worship the Lord together. We know that not everyone is able to come to the building for in-person worship yet, so some of you are joining in with us online. We want you to take the time you think is necessary, and we look forward to seeing you when you are able to come back and meet in person!
Twenty years ago this past February, our family moved to Queensbury for the Lord to work through us to start New Hope, and it has been an amazing ride! Wow, how the Lord has worked beyond our wildest dreams! Now, though, we stand on the threshold of maybe, Lord willing, another 20 years’ worth of vision ahead of us (I don’t intend to be setting any time frames. Only the Lord knows, but I think you know what I mean. In other words, we have a lot more ahead of us together!). And as the first big phase of New Hope’s life is kind of wrapping up, I have begun to realize that I need to pause and take some time away to rest before leading us into the next one. As I have shared that with our pastors and ministry leaders over the past 3-6 months, that has been affirmed by them as well.
So, I am going to be away for about 3 months. I will basically be gone for the months of August and September but also including the last week of July and the first few weeks of October. My last Sunday will be June 26-27, and I will plan to be back in worship again by the last weekend of October for our 20th Anniversary Celebration!
I know something like this takes a little time to soak in, so we wanted to share this with you this week in this letter and with a Q & A sheet below. We’re also having our normal business meeting this Sunday, July 19, at noon, so that will give us some opportunity to talk about it some more together.
Church family, I cannot thank you enough for the amazing way you have responded to the Lord over these past 20 years, and as we seek Him for the next steps, I believe He has so much more ahead for us together. I love and appreciate you all so much!
God bless you,
Pastor Robbie
Starting a church like New Hope was started “from scratch” is very much like starting a business. Except that there is also a major spiritual warfare element as well. Although it is much different in many ways, in some ways it is similar to law enforcement or those in the military who can stay very focused and intense on an important mission for a certain amount of time before they need to rest or sometimes even to retire. Church planters, missionaries, and founding pastors often need a rest after the Lord’s work in a place has gotten established.
Yes, in 2013, but it was much different. Right after we moved into our new building, Pastor Robbie sensed that he needed to spend some concentrated time seeking the Lord about what the next big steps were for our church family. Out of that time away came New Hope’s current BHAGs. But while he was away that time, he was not at all resting. In fact, he was even more focused than ever! This time, though, the Lord is leading him to press pause and take a break to recover and refresh physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually before running again! Plus, many Lead Pastors are encouraged to take an extended time away every 7-10 years (sometimes called a Sabbatical). The larger the ministry, it might even be more frequently than that. Sometimes it is for seeking God’s direction for the church. Sometimes such as this one, it is for the pastor’s own rest and recuperation from the daily intensity of leading God’s work.
Not at all. In fact, the original thinking was for Pastor Robbie to be gone starting in July, but he decided to wait so we could get back into worship in our building.
No, his health might be the best it has been in years! He did have some health issues from Lyme Disease several years ago and still has some impact from that, but we are thankful that he has had such an amazing recovery! Some people may wonder, “Does this mean that Pastor Robbie is leaving?”, but that is not the reason for this time away either. And he is not burned out. He is more excited than ever about what the Lord has ahead for us. In fact, that is part of the reason he is pausing. To get ready for our next big phase of ministry together! (He and our pastors will be sharing our new BHAGS for our church family at our Anniversary weekend at the end of October.)
No, it is only for Pastor Robbie to take some time away to rest.
Now that we have gotten back into worship in our building, he and our leaders believe the Lord is saying that it’s time to wrap up this first 20 years of ministry and look forward to the future at the end of October. Pastor Robbie actually wanted to wait, but the Lord and our leaders encouraged him not to put it off any longer. In some sense, there is never a good time to take the next steps, so if we wait, we will never take them. We have wonderful pastors and ministry leaders who lead us well and will continue to do that in the next few months.
He will basically be gone for the months of August and September, but his time away will officially start the last week of July after he preaches July 25-26 weekend and will go until the first few weeks of October. He plans for his first message back to be the last weekend of October as we celebrate our 20th Anniversary Celebration!
No, he will be visiting other churches in our area/region and asking the Lord to speak to him through them. Pastor Robbie’s family is so glad that they can call New Hope their church home, and they will continue to be involved while he is away.
THE LORD is always the one who is in charge, so that will remain! However, yes, Pastor Robbie is our Lead Pastor and usually the one that the Lord works through to lead our team of pastors and us as a church family as the Lord leads all of us together. During this time, our amazing team of pastors will continue to work together as a team to lead us, and when there are times that someone needs to take the lead, Pastor Adam will serve in that way.
Pastor Jeff and Pastor Adam will be the main ones who share God’s Word, but Pastor Matt and Pastor Drew will share some, too. We might also have another one or two other speakers as well during this time.
III John 4 says that there is no greater joy in life than to see people who you influence for God who are staying close to the Lord, growing in Him, and serving Him. The greatest thing we can do right now is stay faithful to the Lord and to His work – seeking the Lord, serving Him, sharing His Good News in our community and around the world, praying, giving, etc.! That would be the most encouraging thing to our pastor as he takes some time to rest. We also encourage you to pray for him and his family, and if the Lord leads you to send them a note of encouragement, we know that would be a great blessing to them!
