Dear Member/Friend of Whidbey Evangelical Free Church,

I’m sure you know by now that, last weekend, I resigned my position as Senior Pastor here at WEFC. The announcement caught people by surprise and was a shock to many. Since the announcement, there has been an outpouring of love and support for our family – for which we are extremely grateful – especially your prayers and concerns for my mom’s health.

Some of you may not know the severity of the needs of my parents that I have recently discovered: They are in a desperate set of circumstances both physically and financially which requires our physical presence to meet their many specific needs. My mom remains in the hospital and continues to suffer from the severe head trauma she received resulting in head pain, nausea, and vertigo. God has impressed on my families heart Paul’s words from 1 Timothy 5:8, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

My parents have always taken excellent care of their children and it is time for me to join my overwhelmed siblings to step up to the plate and join in the team effort of taking care of the various needs of my parents: physically, spiritually, emotionally, and financially.

I will miss serving you, but I look forward to caring for my parents needs and I’m grateful that God has opened the door for my family to live and work near my parents.

There are three things I’ve sought to do this past year with you and I trust these seeds will come to great fruition: 1) Help you to fall more in love with Christ; 2) Know, understand, appreciate, apply, and present the gospel with gusto; and 3) Desire to use your skills, gifts, talents, and passions for the sake of Christ in the church and in the community.

I hope you take to heart some of the key truths we have studied, learned, and will continue to apply from the great Christ-centered book of Colossians:

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth…So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you…Beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity (Colossians 3:1-2, 12-14).

In the days to come, please be praying for WEFC—its leaders, its people, its health, its future. Be assured that we will be praying for you.

We love you, and we will miss you. We will continually lift you in our hearts to the Lord.

In His grip of infinite grace,

David, Dana, Keely, and Johnny