November 15, 2024

 

Dear Church,

 

I’m writing you to let you know about a change of call that the Lord has placed upon Lindsay and me. Several years ago, the session discerned, prayed over, and adopted five core initiatives that would form the emphases of Trinity’s strategic plan: Neighboring, Empowering, Discipling, Sending, and Planting. Initially, the Lord really quickened my heart for the Neighboring and Discipling portions of the plan, so Lindsay and I were as surprised as anyone when He began to grow our hearts towards the Planting initiative. We told the Lord in no uncertain terms in seminary that we had no desire to pursue Youth Ministry nor church planting, and yet now we find ourselves following His call from Youth Ministry at Trinity to His new call to plant a church in Virginia Beach.

 

Getting to this point has been a long and winding road of the Lord’s leading and grace, and we are excited to share a snippet of that path with you. Two years ago, we began with nothing more than the prayer that the Lord would show us how He might have us grow for His church. Through prayer and conversation with the Session a year and a half ago, we took a leap of faith and attended our denomination’s Church Planting Assessment. There we received their recommendation to plant a church, feedback about areas in which we could continue to grow, and countless resources. During this time, a mentor told us not to plant unless the Lord had ‘put the fire in our bones,’ and in His kindness the Lord has used these past two years to warm them up until the point we are at now in which we feel His call to begin this new work. We have spent the past year asking the Lord to reveal to us where He might want us to plant, and following the Spirit’s lead, we plan on targeting the Chic’s Beach/Thoroughgood area of Virginia Beach.

 

Since its inception, our presbytery has been committed to church planting, because it is a presbytery of church plants. It was through the James River Presbytery’s dedication to church planting that both the Blue Ridge and Tidewater Presbyteries came into existence, and since 2013, Tidewater has continued this legacy. A long-term goal of the presbytery is to plant one PCA church for every high school in the 757. This is meant to keep pulling us towards shining the light of Christ into every nook and cranny of Tidewater, and Lindsay and I are thrilled to join in this exciting lineage of mission.

 

This new call will necessarily involve some changes within the ministries at Trinity as well. Beginning July 1, 2025, my role as Youth Minister at Trinity will come to a close. Lindsay and I are so thankful that the Lord has made a way for us to end this year well in Youth Ministry and look forward to squeezing every last drop out of it with the students. Starting then, my full-time focus will be on fundraising and forming a plant team, but I will still have touchpoints with Trinity. One such opportunity is for me to have the chance to help transition our Youth Ministry to the next leader. Attached below is the Session’s job description for the position, and I’m so excited to help turn the page to this next chapter of our Youth Ministry alongside whoever the Lord raises up. One area of continuity in the ’25-’26 academic year is my leadership of the Men’s Ministry. I will be less regular in our liturgy on Sunday mornings starting in August as I seek to get more engaged with other churches in our presbytery on Sunday mornings.

 

These changes dredge up sorrow and fear with the coming uncertainty. Our years at Trinity have grown us in ways we couldn’t have ever imagined when we left seminary, and we are so deeply humbled by your love, support, and encouragement over this season. Our community with you has shaped our hearts and given us excitement and confidence in continuing to follow the Lord’s call.

 

We know that there will be a range of emotions associated with this announcement; we’ve merely gotten a couple years’ head start on processing it. We feel so thankful that the Session has walked alongside us in this journey and look forward to continuing that with each of you. We’re also so thankful that the Lord has called us within the 757. Following the Lord’s call is a mysterious blend of wisdom, discernment, and faith, and so we would ask that you would join us in prayer for this new endeavor. We will have more time to talk about the missional emphases and vision of this new church plant in the coming months through interest meetings and at our Missions Conference. In the meantime, we do hope that you’ll call, email, or text us with any questions or concerns you might have. We love y’all more than you’ll ever know.

 

Blessings,