13 years ago Cathy and I arrived in Kingsburg. God has been so kind to us to allow us to see Grace Church grow from a Bible study to where we are now. He’s also been growing my family since then, as he added Raina, Meg, and Luca to us. He’s grown us personally as he’s developed more Christlikeness in us in so many ways. He’s also grown me as a pastor, giving me such an incredible church family to learn how to pastor, to bear the times I learned the hard way, and to experience such a wide variety of pastoral ministry and opportunity.

We love you as individuals and as a whole church, which is why we are torn between excitement and sadness today when we tell you that we’ve become convinced that I should pursue being a lead pastor. About a year ago I became concerned that the children’s ministry needed full-time staff attention, an amount of time I have never given to it. I also realized I loved the breadth of ministry I was getting to do and didn’t want to specialize in children’s ministry. In the discussions that followed about shifting my role here at GCV, I began to realize that my desire was more specifically to be a lead leader and to preach to adults on a weekly basis. In January, Pastor Scott and I talked and decided to approach the elders with the direction I was going. Before we had a chance to do that, coronavirus ended our in-person elders meetings and so we choose to wait until we resumed our in-person elder meetings to ask for the elders approval and blessing for me to look for a lead pastor position.

We still don’t have a where or a when, but are committed to prayerfully pursuing a lead pastor position. Today we’d like to ask you to join us in praying for God’s timing and direction for me and my family. We think finding the right fit is an immense challenge, but also that God will direct as he wants. We love you, and you are the reason this has been one of the hardest decisions of my life. While we are incredibly sad to think of our relationships with you changing, we are convinced this is God’s direction for us and are eager to see what he intends to do with our lives. Cathy and I would love to talk with you as you process this information. We’re incredibly grateful for the kindness and input of the entire elder team. We know we’ve been blessed to be here, and have felt your love and friendship in so many ways. We’re committed to pastoring here at Grace until God directs our steps otherwise, and are praying with you as God grows Grace Church in all the ways he wants to.

- David Morris