Letter to the Center Moreland and Dymond Hollow Congregations

This is a wordier and more personally focused version of the announcement made today in all worship services of the charge.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Dear Sisters and Brothers of the Center Moreland Charge:

When Donna first became sick, this charge was very generous with the time and room given for me and my family to cope with and learn how to function with her illness, time at home, time in skilled nursing care, and the aftermath of her death. For this grace, I will eternally be thankful.

During her illness and after her passing, it soon became clear that I needed to serve my family in a different way, a much more involved way than I ever had up until that point. I am now Josiah’s sole parent, sole support, and he is clearly the most important thing in my life, now.

I do not feel as if I am able any longer to serve this charge, or any charge, on a full time basis, because of the parenting I am called to do.

To that end, I have asked the District Superintendent, and notified the PPR of this charge, that I wish to leave the Center Moreland charge and take a part-time appointment. I have asked to be appointed somewhere in what will soon be the newly created Scranton/Wilkes Barre District, within reach of the Wyoming Seminary Lower School, so that Josiah can finish 8th grade, the final year in the school he has attended since Kindergarten. During that year, I will support us with the aforementioned part time church, and I will also be seeking part-time teaching opportunities at the local colleges and at Sem. I will soon begin looking for places to live in the Kingston/Forty Fort area.

I will also spend that time upgrading my academic record, and applying to various universities for the fall of 2013 to pursue a Ph.D. My intent is to become a teacher and chaplain at a small college or independent school. This has always been a dream of mine, and I feel that the changes that have happened in our lives, while they have been terrible and unwanted, do offer the opportunity for new growth.

I will always remember the ministry I have had here, the highs and the lows, the joys and the sorrows, the successes and the failures. Dymond Hollow and Center Moreland churches will always remain in my heart, no matter where I end up.

Your Pastor,


Drew