Pastor Heidi's Farewell Message

Dear Abiding Presence Friends & Family,

Thank you for these amazing last four ½ years of ministry together. As I embark on this next part of my journey, I am beyond grateful for the gift of being your vicar and then one of your pastors, for the opportunity to get to know you and build relationships with you in the midst of life’s joys and sorrows. It has been a privilege to walk the way of Christ with you in my time at Abiding Presence.

Now we’ve come to a fork in the road and the time has come for me to take one way while you continue along the other. It is hard to say goodbye but I do so knowing that my farewell means you get to say hello to new ministry leaders and to new possibilities to grow as a community in Christ. Change is hard but it also necessary, nothing stays the same or else things would be stagnant and get awful boring! We may grumble about the cold of winter but without it, there wouldn’t be the glorious blooming of spring. It is the cycle of life, the cycle that makes it possible for new growth to happen in us and our world.

In order to make room for that new growth and for the new relationships you will be forming with new staff members, it is important that I say goodbye. Although I won’t be there for weddings, funerals, special events and celebrations in the future, know that I am praying for you and you will always have a special place in my heart.

In the near future, Ike and I will be staying the area while I await decisions from the grad schools to which I applied. I will let Pastor Meredith know about my future plans once they are in place so she can share the news with all of you. So, don’t be too surprised if you bump into me from time to time at the grocery store in the next few months or you hear my quite, shall we say, audible and distinctive laugh in a restaurant or coffee shop! I’ll be happy to see you and say hello. But, as is the tradition for any pastor who concludes a call, it is healthy and right for all of us that I say goodbye for you and I to keep walking the separate paths God has called us to follow, so you won’t be seeing me other than the occasional times out and about in the community. But I will be rooting you on as we follow our different journeys and I hope you will be rooting me on too!

So I say goodbye, a word that originally meant “God be with ye!.” God will indeed be with us, with you and with me, present every step of the way as we start this new step of our journeys. May we make space for the new growth God is planting in our lives and trust God’s abiding presence every step of the way. Go Go Holy Spirit! Amen.

Peace & Blessings,
Pastor Heidi
Pastor for Discipleship