Week of Unexpected Change

This week was one of unexpected change. Mandy was sat down by the senior pastor on Tuesday morning and told in very general terms that the search committee at our church selected another candidate for the Associate Pastor. We were not well prepared to hear this hard news. The overwhelming endorsement of the congregation for Mandy's candidacy left us confused about the search committee's decision. We've been grateful to God for Bob and Gail who were coincidentally staying with us this week to help with Myles whose morning out program had a week off. Bob, who interviews school superintendents and principals through a program called Ventures for Excellence gave us very good insight on how hiring decisions are made, what attributes and qualities make for the strongest candidates and how easily things can derail in a search process for a variety of reasons. We had an opportunity to talk through our options with them such as selling the house and leaving Asheville or piecing together other income possibilities for Mandy here. The challenge is finding a job in Asheville, which will sustain Mandy spiritually and financially. It's funny, but this whole situation has made Mandy's desire for ministry stronger than ever. There is only one other UCC church in Asheville with three ministers so finding a pastoral position in another UCC church will require us to move outside of Asheville. We met with a Realtor on Friday and it sounds like we could probably sell the house within 2 months at a price that will allow us to break even, which gave us a sigh of relief. After the Realtor left the house we both felt sick over the thought of someone else living in the house we built from the ground up for our family. We are trying to wade through all the anger, grief, and disappointment and come to a calmer place and we know that will come in time. Not only are we grieving the decision that was made by the search committee we are also grieving the loss of our church and faith community. Several weeks ago, we made the decision that we would leave the church if Mandy didn't get the position, in part because it wouldn't be fair for the new Associate Pastor or the congregation, but also because it's best for us to move on and let the church heal from this without the distractions from us. Mandy wrote a beautiful good bye letter to the congregation and we would be happy to share this with you upon request. Right now we're weighing our options and trying to hold back from making hasty decisions. Mandy is looking into two churches: Marietta, GA, Knoxville, TN. The more options we have the better.

Thanks to all of our friends who have been so supportive this week with cards, calls, hugs, childcare, meals, and reminding us in this hard week that we are loved. We'll keep you posted.