Red skies in morning, sailor take warning. Red skies at night, sailor’s delight.
39 He got up and gave orders to the wind, and he said to the lake, “Silence! Be still!” The wind settled down and there was a great calm. (Mark 4:39)
Folks keep asking me why I am choosing to leave. It is hard for me to put a justification for this decision in a concise, straightforward, statement. I am very committed to Christ and Wesleyan theology; I hope and pray for the church global and church local to have every success in the mission of making disciples for Jesus. However, when you begin to disagree more and more with an institution over a longer and longer list of issues, at some point you know when it is best for you, individually, to cut ties.
Please embrace your next pastor and love her as you did me and my family. Please do not be angry at anyone, especially your new pastor or the District Superintendent, for my decision; it was mine and not theirs. In the choppy seas that the skies suggest may lie ahead for the United Methodist denomination, please cling to each other, hold fast to the Savior, and know that you are held tightly in return by the hands of the one who can calm storms with a word.
God bless and farewell! Rev. John Tomlin
