Anyone interested in joining the Goldthorpe Community Gospel Choir is invited to attend an open rehearsal on Monday 16th September at 7 p.m. at the Salvation Army Church on Straight Lane.
The prayer meeting this week (Thursday 19th September) will take the form of a prayer walk. We will be praying for local businesses, continuing with the month’s prayer theme of regeneration. We will meet at the church at 7.30 p.m. Don’t forget warm clothes!
Mark had an important announcement to make, which he gave in the form of a letter:
“Hi, everyone,
I am writing this letter because I could not stand at the front and say what I need to say because it would be too emotional. Please pass on this information to anyone you know who isn’t here tonight.
I have decided to resign as pastor at the end of this year. It has been a hard decision, but one I have thought and prayed through.
I am very busy at work at the moment and have been for quite a few months, and it is getting busier. I am finding that I am just going through the motions of being pastor rather than actually doing the job because I am tired. I would rather not do the job than not do it properly, because that isn’t honouring to God or serving and leading you properly.
I have not fallen out with anyone and will not be leaving. I just feel that someone else with new passion and vision will do the job of pastor much better than I can.
Thank you to everyone for your help and prayers, and now start to pray God will show us the right person to be pastor or send someone in.
I will continue to serve the church in any way I can and as the leadership feel appropriate. I have not lost my desire to serve, but I don’t want to hold the church back because I am lacking in any way.
Please don’t call me ‘pastor’ in the New Year, as this could make it harder for whoever takes the job to get established. Maybe sometime in the future God will call me back to leadership, but for now I am certain that this is the right decision.
It is God’s time of change and I recognise it and embrace it. Please continue to pray for me, Diane, and the family.
Thanks,
Pastor Mark Burgin.”
Such decisions are never easy to make and obviously have an impact on Mark and his family and on the church family. Please pray for Mark, Diane and their family; for the church leadership as they meet to pray and discuss this matter; for the church as a whole. God has good plans for us, plans to give us hope and a future, plans that will prosper us and not harm us (Jer 29:11 TNIV). Change can be difficult to embrace, for we often feel threatened by it. This year has been a year of change for the church and God is clearly moving in many ways. Let’s hold on to Him and be confident that He is able to complete every work He has started (see Phil 1:6 TNIV).