2 May, 2010

Dear Redeemer family,

It is with a grateful but heavy heart that I announce my resignation from the position of Lead Pastor of Redeemer Church. After ten years as the founding and lead pastor, a decade of wonderful gospel ministry, and scores of wonderful friendships, Michelle and I have decided it is time to step out to pursue my calling to write, speak, and teach to the wider church.

I dearly love Redeemer Church and the people of this wonderful community. I adore preaching, leading you in worship and building the church. I have poured my heart and soul into planting Redeemer. It has been a labor of love. I leave with tears in my eyes. It is so hard to leave because it has been so good.

At the same time, I feel called to bless and challenge a wider audience around the country and the world through my writing and speaking. I have come to realize, along with the Session, that I am not able to do both of them simultaneously. The ministry at Redeemer--as the Session and I have set it up--is not structured to sustain the pastor/scholar model at this time. So after much prayer and seeking counsel over many months, we have decided that it is in the best interest of Redeemer and the best use of my talents to pursue my next book proposal, which has already been approved by my publisher.

June 13th will be our last Sunday with you. Starting on June 19th, we will spend about a month out of state speaking, vacationing, and pursuing some continual education. The last two weeks of July we will vacation in Rhode Island and visit my mom. On August 3rd we will fly to the UK to spend a year in Oxford, raising our family, conducting research across six European countries, and writing the book. We plan to take the kids along on the research trips and involve them in the learning process.

We leave with mixed emotions. We will deeply miss Redeemer and all you wonderful people. We will miss the deep weekly worship, community groups, and all the missional and shalom endeavors. We are thrilled about what God has done at Redeemer and will continue to do in the decades ahead. I could not be more excited about Redeemer’s future. At the same time, we are truly excited about our new calling and look forward to living in Oxford and pursuing this exciting adventure. I love to write--to tell stories that move people to a deeper understanding of Christianity and the church; I can’t wait to get started.

We will be praying and pulling for the church to thrive in the years ahead! And I know it will. Please pray for us as we establish our new home in the UK, raise our family, and write this important book. We love you all and look forward to keeping in touch, sharing the journey of God’s call on our lives.

Shalom,
TE Jim Belcher
Lead Pastor
Redeemer Presbyterian Church
Newport Beach, Ca