Jesus Is Our True Leader
By Wayne Williams --
Well just déjà vu! With Pastor Jay’s departure, we are entering a new chapter in the life of Greater Portland Bible Church…again. We should be pretty good at new chapters by now, having had four of them in the last nine years, not counting several associate staff changes in those years. In many churches or organizations, that much change in leadership would result in uncertainty, confusion, and/or instability. That has not been the case with us, however.
The unity and stability that we have enjoyed through these years is in large measure, I believe, due to our compelling awareness that Jesus is the true leader, the true senior pastor of our church, regardless of which human leader he has placed with us. He is the one around whom we are unified, and he is the source of our stability. That must always be the case at Greater Portland.
I very much appreciate and treasure the words of support and encouragement that have come from so many as I stepped into this interim lead pastor role…again. Several have commented on the burden that this job must be. Well, it is, sort of. But the eight years that I was in that role previously were absolutely the best years of my ministry career. It does not feel like a burden, in fact, it feels like a privilege to have an encore opportunity for something I enjoyed so much.
I am praying though, that this interim will be shorter than interims in the past. Not for my sake, but for the sake of the church and the ministry momentum that began under Jay’s leadership. That momentum needs to build, not diminish or even pause during this interim time.
Please consider this in-between time, as I do, the preface to a new chapter in our life together, not the new chapter itself. And pray, as I do, that our Lord Jesus will, in his time, place with us the man of his choosing.