Your reaction to this news may vary. Anything from "How can you do this?" to "What took you so long?"
Either way, I get it.
It ain't easy, so please be kind. The email went out this week:
Friends and Prayer Partners of Compass Church,Well, there you have it.
Thank you for all of your prayers and support as we have strived with all of our hearts to "re-plant" North Point Fellowship as Compass Church. We have worked very hard, made great sacrifices and reached out to our community in creative and strategic ways.
Please know that words cannot express how much it grieves me to share this with you. But this weekend marked the end of this phase of our journey. After much prayer and seeking on the part of our lead team, we now believe that God is drawing our church plant to a close.
Our final gathering and celebration of the past four years will be this Saturday, November 18th, 10:30am. I wanted to give you a "heads' up" before you see this in my blog or on our church website. Rest assured, there is no scandal or impropriety of any kind - we have just realized that God is leading us to move on.
We have great sadness and grief about this, but do believe that God is in it. I'm not sure what the next step for me and my family will be, but we are earnestly seeking God's direction and still greatly need your prayers. Our kids are a little freaked out right now, and money at the Leckie home is tighter than ever.
I will be blogging about more of the details and my thoughts related to this time of transition (http://johnnyleckie.blogspot.com) over the next week or so.
Thanks for your prayers, support and friendship.
Grace & Peace in abundance,
Johnny
What was "unthinkable" by me as recently as last week has now become very "thought-able" and "a done deal-able." I'll be sharing more in the days ahead.
We greatly value your prayers, and I want to say thank you to everyone who has already voiced words of encouragement and support.
It looks like I may now be able to write the sequel to Mark's book. The working title is "Eaten by a Lion in a Pit on an Overcast Day with Medium to Mild Temperatures."
I'll have to get back to you on that.
In the mean time, I would greatly recommend reading Mark's book. (It's actually good stuff, and has nothing to do with the rest of this post!)
7 comments:
I know that what you have planted over the years will continue on in ways unseen right now. I admired your tenacity and let no one say you gave up. As one who knows what you are experiencing, know that you have exciting days ahead as God leads you into a new phase of your ministry. You are a talented pastor and one of the most creative people I've encountered. I look forward to seeing where God places you and how He will bless the seeds you've planted in the Roanoke area.
Johnny,
You and your family are in my prayers. While my family are not members or attendees, I still appreciate the presence you've had in Roanoke and the surrounding areas. I pray that God will lead you to the place where He wants you to serve quickly. You've been doing a good work in Roanoke and I hope that people will continue to witness for Christ in a similar manner.
In Him,
-Peter Schott
The title is too funny. What is not funny is that I think you will write a book, and I am looking forward to it. Call
"Like a fine wine..." Hey man, chin up and move on. The lives you've touched will pay untold dividends in years to come. The crown you cast will be worthy,
but I suspect its still under construction....!
Thanks for the encouraging words, guys. It really means a lot to me!
Well, I have sure listened to your words in various forms from lots of pastors. One would think God is in the moving business. He is not. Just say, I quit and move on, don't lay all this stuff at the feet of God. He is not a loser or quiter...are you? Where is your faith? You have no money-do what a lot of other Christians do...get a job, don't lay your lack at the feet of others.
On the other hand, good luck and move on to some place else!
"Anonymous Barnabus" (The commenter whose post precedes this one):
I am amazed that someone so incredibly uniformed would offer such an erroneously bold opinion in such an anonymous manner. I do hope you recover your identity soon.
But Barney. Really.
"Where is your faith?" "You have no money?" "Get a job?" - You've got to be kidding me...
I'm afraid your "encouragement" is as meaningful to me as attempting to inform me that I have too much hair on my head. You obviously do not have a clue about me or this blog.
I will allow your comment to remain for now but will not be allowing your brand of comment to be placed "anonymously" from this point forward.
However, I would encourage you to actually read the Bible some time. There's great stuff in there.
A good starting point would be "Proverb 18:13".
On the other hand, as you say, good luck and move on to some place else!
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