Hey <<First Name>>,

I wanted to give an update on our Broadview West transition process. As you may know, Taylor graduated seminary last year. He was actively looking for a senior pastor position when Vernon had approached him about stepping in to lead at Broadview West. Vernon sensed a need for younger leadership at the West Campus and thought God might be raising Taylor up to be that person. 

After praying about it, Taylor agreed to explore the possibility. Earlier this summer, Vernon, Taylor and myself filmed a video explaining why we believed this transition was a good idea and might be God’s will for our church. From the very beginning the plan was “in pencil.” We encouraged all of you to be praying that the Lord would make his will clear during this season of discernment.

Early on, there were many positive signs surrounding the transition process. Broadview West warmly welcomed Taylor and Emily. Our home campus worship ministry was still in good hands given our great team of volunteers. At the time, it seemed right and there were no big hurdles for moving forward. 

Since that time, however, things have changed. There now seem to be enough red flags that moving forward feels like an unwise decision for all parties involved. I know this will come as a shock to most of you as things seemed like they were moving in the right direction. The purpose of this update is to explain what was going on “behind the scenes” so you can make better sense out of this decision and better pray for our church moving forward.

Some Personal News

I never imagined I would have to share what I’m about to say but it’s the only way to tell “the whole story” of why the West Campus transition isn’t moving forward.

In July of this year someone submitted my name to another church for their senior pastor search process. That church reached out to me and asked me if I was willing to participate in the process. Opportunities like this have come in the past but I’ve never entertained them. Since becoming your pastor in 2013, I’ve never once questioned my calling to be your pastor or my confidence that Broadview is where the Lord wanted me to be.

Because of that, I didn’t seriously entertain this request for the first few days. However, every time I tried to decline their request I wasn’t able to send the email. There was a check in my spirit that the “no” I was sending was “my no” and not the Lord’s no. 

The Lord convicted me that I was being presumptuous in my certainty that Broadview was where he wanted to keep me. How could I be sure of that assumption if it was never tested? The Lord made clear that it was His will for me to participate in the process. I can’t say I was excited about it!

A Leap of Faith

That’s not to say it wasn’t an exciting opportunity. I was familiar with the church making the request. Their former pastor is a close friend and mentor. Their congregation already had a special place in my heart. They were in the middle of a great revival and exciting season of growth. In fact, I felt kinda dumb for not feeling excited about the opportunity.

The truth was, my heart broke over the idea of leaving Broadview. It’s hard to put into words the love a pastor feels for his flock. I certainly didn’t like the idea of leaving Abilene (and West Texas.) Our kids have both grandparents close and the idea of leaving all of that behind was hard to imagine even if it was for a “great opportunity.” 

I shared all of those things in my cover letter when I submitted my resume.
I’ll share with you some of what I shared with them.

“I’ve been in ministry at Broadview since 2005. It is the first and only church I’ve ever served. As a family, Abilene & West Texas have always been our home. The thought of leaving that behind is devastating and a little scary. 

The first conversation I had with my wife about this decision brought tears and anxiety. My first reaction was to just say no and not participate. But as I've prayed and sought the will of God, He simply will not allow me to do that . 

For whatever reason, the Lord wants me to move forward in this process. Perhaps it is to ensure that my “yes is on His table” no matter what. If God shuts this door then I will be happy to serve Broadview for the rest of my ministry. If God opens this door, Audra and I are both resolved to walk by faith and be obedient to God’s call. 

As the old hymn says, “Trust and obey. For there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.” 
 

With that, I submitted my resume and went on with my life. I didn’t seriously think I’d hear back from them. The truth was, I would hear back. I did hear back. Again and again and again. 

An Unsettling Season

After I had made it into the second round of candidates, I brought Taylor in on the process. I felt like it wasn’t right for him to make the decision about Broadview West without also knowing what was going on in my own life. I did the same thing with Pastor Vernon for the same reasons a few weeks later.

After I made it into the third round of candidates we all decided to “press pause” on the official transition timeline because everything was “up in the air.” By the end of September we would know whether I was in the “final round” or not. So we just prayed and waited on the Lord. 

It was during that season that things began to change at a spiritual and emotional level for myself, Taylor and Pastor Vernon.

Personally, the idea of God releasing me from my calling at Broadview got very real very fast. It’s hard to put into words what the Lord did during that season. I resisted the idea very strongly at first. However, eventually I began to ask, “If the Lord DID want to move me, what kinds of things would be evidence of that fact?” 

I began to wonder if God had left Taylor around not to transition into Broadview West but to lead our home campus through a difficult transition as an interim pastor. Taylor was beginning to explore those same thoughts on his end. As somebody who loves Broadview, he wanted to be able to serve our church in whatever way was most needed.

During that same time, Vernon was realizing that his timeline for retirement was a bit premature. While it’s true that someone can officially retire at the age of 65, they can’t draw on their full social security benefits until some time later after that date. For him, that would’ve been close to another year which would’ve made a transition in 2023 a financial burden. It was doable, but challenging.

Both Taylor and Vernon were beginning to “think differently” about the West Campus transition. Taylor didn’t want to rush the West Campus transition if the timing was off. Vernon didn’t want to press the West Campus transition if Taylor’s leadership could be better utilized at our home campus. All of this depended, to a large degree, on what would happen in my own life.

A Change of Heart

Then I got the call. I was in the final round of candidates. The next 30 days proved to be some of the most challenging days of my life as a pastor. They were filled with prayer, fasting, tears and hope. 

My heart was a yoyo. Sinking in one moment, lifted in the next. I was flattered that such a strong church would have that degree of interest in me. I was brokenhearted over the realization that the Lord might want to remove me from the senior pastorate at Broadview. 

Personally, the Lord began to reveal things in my life and my leadership at Broadview that were unsettling. The Lord began to challenge me and even rebuke me for how I was participating in this search process. Eventually, He brought me to a point where I was 100% willing to let everything go and do what He wanted me to do.

My heart and soul were broken and restored at the same time. It really was fascinating how the Lord used this season of prayer, fasting and discernment to draw me closer to Himself and renew a right spirit within me about what it means to be a pastor and what obedience looks like even when it’s not what we want to do.

A Different Perspective

Once I got that call, the feelings that Taylor and Vernon were processing only got stronger. Taylor began to emotionally attach himself to the idea that God might be calling him to lead our home campus through a very challenging season. He even began to wonder if it might become more than that, later on down the road. The Lord even began giving him a vision for our church and how to move forward in these uncertain days.

Certainly all of this would’ve been dependent on a whole host of factors outside of Taylor’s control but the desire and willingness was there. I was encouraged by this and discouraged at the same time!

I was encouraged because, if the Lord moved me, Broadview would be in great hands. I was discouraged because the Lord hadn’t released me from Broadview nor had he really drawn me to this other congregation. Through it all, though, God used that change in Taylor’s heart to change my own heart about the possibly of leaving Broadview. 

I had resolved in my heart, “I’m a servant in Christ’s Kingdom. The Kingdom belongs to Him. I belong to Him. He can move me wherever he wants to move me.” The Lord owns the chess table and he moves His pieces however He wills. Who was I to say to the grand chess master, “how can you do this?” 

During that same time, Vernon was accepting the idea that the West Campus transition might be premature so he needed to make other plans.

That season was full of emotional pain and uncertainty. Throughout the entire process, I never sensed God releasing me from Broadview. On the other hand, he never released me from the search process either. I tried to explore the idea of being drawn to this other congregation. I never sense any drawing. But I did get to a place of joyful acceptance if that’s what the Lord wanted to do. 

As you can imagine, the closer I got to that place, the closer Vernon and Taylor got to separating themselves completely from the West Campus transition. Everything was up in the air. The Lord had turned over ALL of the soil in each of our hearts.

What Happened Next

Then I got another important call. It was October 17th right before our pastoral team and deacons meeting. I had made preparation to fill everybody in on all the details. I was sick to my stomach and unable to even work on that week’s sermon (a sermon on our life together as a church, no less!) The call was from the chairman of the search committee. 

While they were deeply appreciative of my cooperation in the process, they felt strongly that the Lord was calling them to pursue another candidate uniquely for the final leg of their search process. They were confident that I was not that final candidate. While they reserved a right to come back to me should that final candidate not pan out, I was essentially released from the process.

It's hard to describe what I felt after hearing those words. Release. Joy. Sadness. Gratitude. All of the feels all at once. I was thankful I didn’t have to leave Broadview. I felt a release from the process of the search. I was grateful for what the Lord did in my heart through the process. I was sad that my circumstances upended the lives of two of my friends and particularly for Taylor who now had to make a very difficult decision for what to do next.

I immediately informed both Vernon and Taylor. During our pastoral team meeting I informed everyone of what had happened. I waited on informing our deacon body until I had an answer from Taylor and Vernon on what they planned to do moving forward with West Campus transition.

A Difficult Decision

Hopefully, you can now understand the difficultly of that decision.

That next week I met with Taylor. He expressed that, from his perspective, moving forward with the transition didn’t seem like the right thing to do. Some of it was related to Vernon’s situation with social security, some of it was related to what the Lord had done in his heart through the prior two months. 

Even if the transition to West proved successful, he just didn’t have confidence that the Lord wanted to keep him there for the long term. 

Transitions are hard. Especially when you follow “a founder.” There’s no certainty to be had as to your long-term future when you enter a context like that. (I had thought the same thoughts given my own possible transition.) 

The fact that he couldn’t envision that “long term” future at West made him hesitant to push it forward. This was all the more true given Vernon’s change of heart and the personal circumstances surrounding his retirement.

As to Vernon’s thinking, he was happy to postpone his retirement until “the time was right” and would throw himself back into leading at Broadview West as they waited on the Lord for what would happen next. 

I met with our music search team and shared the news with them. The consensus was to postpone our search process for a worship minister until Taylor had a path forward for his next ministry assignment.

Taylor’s call to pastor a church has not changed. We all know he’s incredibly gifted as a worship leader but that’s not where his heart is at long-term. I’ve been in the same place and know exactly how he feels.

So Taylor has begun applying to open positions and is waiting on the Lord to see what will happen next. I wish there was a way to keep Taylor around. He has served our church well and his absence will be a big loss for us as a congregation. However, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. It’s ultimately not up to us.

So Now What?

I know this update feels like drinking spoiled milk out of a fire hydrant. None of this is easy to receive or exciting to talk about.

Personally, I’m so grateful for what the Lord has done in my life through this entire process. It’s been painful but clarifying and strengthening on many levels. I’m also very sad for what this means for our West Campus transition. I was extremely hopeful for the possibilities surrounding that idea but none of us want to force something that isn’t God’s will. 

As I said in my original letter to that original request, “Trust and obey. For there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.” 

I don’t know what the future holds. But we are safe and secure in the arms of our loving heavenly Father. Our Church belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. He’s the real senior pastor. And he will shepherd each of us through this season and use the difficulties to strengthen and renew us. 

I hope you’ll commit to continue praying for Taylor, Vernon and the rest of our church leadership. I hope you’ll also pray for our pastor/deacon selection process. We need strong and healthy leaders to become a strong and healthy church. 

This is an important season in the life of our church. I’m praying the Lord will use this season to build our faith and our confidence in Him. Certainly, our enemy will use this season to deceive, divide and destroy the love we have for one another. 

Let us all remain vigilant to resist the devil and submit to the Lord. 

Let us pray for HIS kingdom to come and HIS will to be done in our church as in heaven.

Until He Comes,

Pastor Wes