News

This is a condensed version of what I shared with the church this past Sunday.

"I want to begin with thanks for your prayers and support over these months of trials. I have shared with you about the very difficult trials that my family and I have been walking through for many months now. One of the challenges every pastor faces is the ability to be transparent and open and honest about his life and at the same time maintain some privacy and personal space to work through those trials. Pastors are just people. God has called us to a very special ministry that includes great responsibility. But at the end of the day, I am just a guy walking the same road that you are. That road also includes trials and heartache and difficulties and disappointment. No one is exempt from the enemy’s attacks and his schemes. In fact, pastors and their families are probably more vulnerable because of the role we play in God’s work.

I struggle even today to know what and how much to share with you. The stress my family and I have been facing began a number of years ago with the normal struggles of life and marriage. Add to that the serious depression and emotional issues that my wife has been battling for a number of years and we find ourselves in a very difficult place. We have spent most of the past three months apart and have been unable to resolve any of the issues that have brought us to this place. We have sought counseling together and separately and will continue to do that. But just as these issues did not appear overnight, they cannot be resolved over night.

Obviously, the state of my marriage and my personal life has a huge impact on my ability to lead and pastor the church. Ministry is not like other “jobs” where you can just block out the personal stuff and put your shoulder to the plow and get your job done. I’ve tried to do it and it’s just not possible. In ministry it is all the same and all connected.

I take my call of spiritual leadership very seriously. This has never been just a job for me. I have tried to never be the pastor who put on fronts or tried to make you think I’m something that I am not. I have always wanted to be open and honest about my imperfections and faults and my own journey to honor God with my life. I have tried to protect my wife through these trials. I have taken every step I know to take to be a man of God, to faithfully honor my wife and our marriage, and to make things right between us.

That’s as honest as I know to be and that’s how I stand before you today. My heart is broken over the circumstances of our lives and the pain we are in. I have tried to fix things and do things that I thought were right. But I have not been able to fix anything. Finally, God told me to let it go and just wait on Him and that He will be faithful to take care of us because we belong to Him and He loves us.

The leadership of our church has been supportive throughout this process. They have left decisions about how I need to handle things up to me. It’s been frustrating for them and for some of you because you haven’t known what to do to help fix things --- you love us and want things to be okay --- and it looks like from the outside there should be an easy solution. But there is not an easy solution.

And so, after much prayer and seeking the Lord’s will and wise counsel with godly people I trust, I am stepping down as pastor of Capstone Church. This has been a really hard decision because my flesh says to tough it out and make it work somehow. But God says to let it go, to lay it down on the altar, and let Him take it from there. I know that it is what I must do for the good of the church and the good of me and my family.

The road ahead for Yvonne and me is a very long road and that contributed greatly to my decision. While I know that you all support us and want to see our relationship healed and me remain as the Pastor here, I believe it would be unfair and unhealthy for the church to be distracted by this process and to continue in a place of limbo while we work through these personal issues. We cannot let anything distract us from the mission God has given.

I want you to know that there are no sin issues in my life that require me to resign today. I am far from perfect but I have not done anything that disqualifies me from ministry. No one has asked me to resign. As difficult as this is, I know this is a step of obedience that God requires me to take.

The journey of Capstone Church has been amazing and one that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I cannot even begin to tell you what a privilege it has been to be your pastor and to be a part of your lives. And Lord willing, I hope to be able to continue to be a part of Capstone’s journey as a church member and servant along side with you. There is still so much work to be done here. God has brought together an incredible group of people here I am confident that He will bring the next visionary pastor to continue the good work that He has started in us.

I don’t know what is next for me. But I do know the One who already has that figured out. He is my faithful, loving, good, and kind Heavenly Father. The same God who made a way for the Israelites into the Promised land, who fed 5,000 from the fish and loaves, who healed the blind, mute and crippled, the same God who always makes a way when there seems to be no way, will make a way for me and my family.

So take heart, church. Please do not lose your focus on the amazing God we serve and the vision that lies before us. Remember: you are the church. The church is not about me as the Pastor. It is about each of us and the relationships we are building and the opportunities God has given us to “love people into the abundant life that comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ.” That’s Capstone – that’s who we are – and that will never change."

There were many tears shed by many of us on Sunday. But amazingly, God showed up and His presence was obvious as we worshiped Him. My goal for Sunday was to bring glory to Him. I pray that happened because He alone deserves it for all the great things He has done.