| http://www.faithmoorpark.com/call/2016/11/20/pastor-benson-response | Updated July 17 2017 |
Previous Meetings
- August 13, 2017 - Pastor Jeong's acceptance letter
- July 20, 2017 - letter from Pastor Jeong
- July 16, 2017 - call service
- June 18, 2017 - Pastors on the call list
- May 21, 2017 - received new call list
- April 23, 2017 - call from seminary update
- Jan 1, 2017 - "Call Day" Info
- Nov 21, 2016 - call from seminary
- Nov 20, 2016 - Pastor Benson's response to the Call
- Nov 13, 2016 - meet 'n' greet with Pastor Benson
- Oct 16, 2016 - call service and voting for our next pastor.
- Sept 18, 2016 - update on the call process, and next steps.
- May 1, 2016 - intro to the call process and next steps as a congregation.
Decision from Pastor Benson
Sunday, November 20, 2016
The following letter was received today from Pastor Steve Benson:
Pete Walker, Call Committee Chairman
Faith Lutheran Church
123 Park Lane
Moorpark, CA 93021
November 20 2016
Dear Pete and members of Faith Lutheran Church,
Greetings in the name Jesus our King of Kings.
Thank you for a wonderful visit last weekend. Liz and I truly enjoyed our time with you. Thank you for your hospitality and your willingness to share with us what the Lord is doing in and through you at Faith. Moorpark is an exciting place with many opportunities to live out your faith in the midst of an ever changing community. I am humbled and honored that you have Called me to be your pastor.
Since the time I first received the Call and throughout my whole time of deliberation, I have prayed the same prayer, “They will be done.” I have sought guidance from the Lord (in prayer and in His word), as well as from others in pastoral ministry (in both states). I have listened to members of both congregations and my family. I have struggled greatly coming to this conclusion. I have wavered back and forth, even coming up with a pros and cons list. I could see myself serving the Lord in both congregations which is what made this decision so hard. In the end it came down to one question, “Do I take family out of the Call process and strictly deliberate between ministries?” One wise friend told me that my first Call was to be husband and father, my second Call was to be pastor. Another wise confidant told me, “Calls will be there. You have very limited time with your family as they grow up. You don’t want them to have negative feelings toward you or the church.”
It is after all of this that I respectful decline the Call to be pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Moorpark, CA. I am forever grateful for the chance to get to meet with you all. I appreciate your questions and your words of encouragement. Above all, I am excited to see what the Lord has prepared for Faith Lutheran Church. I am confident that you are being served now by a faithful pastor who loves Jesus and the people he is serving, until the Lord sees fit to send you a full-time pastor.
In the service of Christ,
Steven A. Benson