“I’m not perfect, but God is.”

Dear LTCC Family,

“I’m not perfect, but God is.”  That was one of the many messages Bob squeezed in over his few short days with us.  Bob was faithful to continually refer to Biblical truth for answers as we quizzed him on everything from his stand on Calvinism to whether he would be willing to don a Seahawks jersey.  Well, he may not have referenced scripture when answering the latter question, but he certainly did when it mattered!

 

As your input indicated, and as the council discussed, Bob Slack seems to be an ideal candidate to lead our church through this interim season.  To quote some of you...

 

  • We love his love of God, His Word, and the church.

  • I think that Bob Slack will be excellent for helping LTCC, with God's help as he acknowledges, to sort out all the questions, comments, complaints, conflicts, needs, hurts, etc.

  • His doctrine aligns with ours and the depth of his experience is unparalleled. He is frank, open, transparent, and wise plus he has a wonderful sense of humor! I believe God has brought us the perfect person to help us through this transition period.

  • His comments reflected sensitivity to the church family, interest in going deeper for reconciliation, and ultimate trust in God for direction.

  • I appreciated Bob's relaxed style, sense of humor and fun illustrations, but, more importantly, I am comfortable with Bob's theology.  I heard in his prayers, his scripture references, his quotations, and his teaching/exhortation a clear understanding of the Word and willingness to challenge us to embrace God’s truth.

 

There was also one repeated concern, not that he isn’t a good fit, but a concern out of love for both Bob and Ronda:

 

  • Separation between Bob and Ronda. 

o   It’s a hardship for a couple to live in two places.

o   Bob’s heart will be with his wife.

 

As a leadership team, we also discussed that distance does not work for some couples but could for others. We also reminded ourselves that, as much as we would love Ronda to be around as much as possible, we are not hiring them as a couple. We will be blessed to enjoy Ronda’s company when she is available, but it is Bob we are hiring, with no expectations of Ronda.

 

With all those things in mind, members of the leadership team zoomed with Bob and Ronda Thursday evening in order to extend the call to serve as our interim pastor.  Bob accepted the call, feeling the Lord’s fingerprints are “all over this”, just as we do.  Thank you for your prayers and for your overwhelming participation in assessing the call of Bob.

 

A few details we talked through with Bob..

 

  • We discussed our concern out of love for their time apart during this interim pastor assignment.  Bob expressed gratefulness for our concern and that they are open to the Lord’s leading in this area.  He also described plans he and Ronda have discussed that would increase the time together, more than they were originally thinking.

  • We agreed we would target an early July start date for him to be with us at LTCC.  It will either be the 2nd or the 9th of July that we will see him behind the pulpit.  More to come on that.

  • We also gained clarity on the Transition Team described in the IPM overview and look forward to Bob’s wisdom in his leadership as that formulates.

 

Our next steps are to work with IPM to finalize the contract and to secure housing for Bob & Ronda.  Please continue to pray for God’s amazing provision and faithfulness in these next steps.

Your elder & deacon leadership team
 

 

PS - Bob also made the wise recommendation to take notes during sermons; note-taking is beneficial to our learning and helps us retain the knowledge.  That is so true!  For those who prefer paper, here is a great way to keep and organize your sermon notes.  Also, feel free to grab the monthly event bulletin available as you enter the sanctuary (it’s blank on the back).

 ________________________________________________________________________

Trista Sutherland