Special Announcement from the Pastor
November 16, 2009
I shall never forget my first week here at Saugatuck. The day after Linda and I moved into the parsonage four planes ripped apart three buildings, a field in Pennsylvania and the soul of our nation. And suddenly we found ourselves coming together as pastor and parish far more quickly than might have normally been the case. I was so moved by your courage in those days after 9/11, so impressed by the way you rallied round one another as together we tried to make sense of the senseless. Through it all you showed yourselves to be a people of prayer and practical action.
In the more than eight years since that week, I have seen that courage, that faith, that love demonstrated over and over again. So often, in so many ways, you have shown yourselves to truly be a community of Christ! You have seriously explored what it means to be God's people in this place. You have welcomed all people. You have expanded your commitment to that through the O & A process and in a myriad of other ways as well. And you have been willing to learn ever new ways to love and serve God and neighbor. Feasts have been prepared, gifts given, houses built, mission trips funded and taken. I have been proud to serve as your Senior Pastor. We have accomplished much!
It is therefore, with very mixed emotions that I share with you that I will be completing my tenure here at Saugatuck on January 24, 2010 so that I might accept the call to serve as Senior Pastor of the Sanibel Congregational United Church of Christ in Florida. This move will make it possible for Linda and me to be there as our four grandchildren grow up. It will be a major adjustment in many ways-we have both lived in the Northeast most of our lives. But there will be a touch of New England close at hand as Fort Myers (the city next to Sanibel Island) is the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox!
Sanibel UCC is a congregation of about 600 members, and has a significant fluctuation in worship attendance over the course of the year. In season (November-April) there are three services on Sunday morning with an average total attendance of 400-500. May-October there are two services (and in July and August just one) averaging around 125 or so at worship. The total is heavily tilted towards the seniors who make up much of Sanibel's resident population, but there is a small and growing children's ministry. The biggest difference, though, is the age of the congregation itself, as it was only founded in the late seventies!
I have been in conversation with our very able moderator Michael Hendricks over the last several weeks, and have met with the Executive Committee twice to begin the work of transition. In the following letter, Michael explains some of what will need to happen in the days and weeks ahead. I will do all in my power to help make the transition as smooth as possible!
I will be happy to answer questions at the Congregational Informational Meeting scheduled for this Sunday, November 22, at 11:30 AM.
It has been such a privilege to be part of this congregation. I have been blessed with the support of so many fine lay leaders and a very hard working staff. They will continue to serve you well.
And though we live in a post-9/11 world, we can, and do, take comfort in the words of the Psalmist:
If I take the wings of the morning,
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand will lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.
Thank you for being who you are.
In Jesus Name,
John H. Danner
Senior Pastor