Rodgers Update August 18

On August 12th, I posted about a big change in the Rodgers' family life.  
Check the post to read more details.
We are going to be transitioning out of ministry at West Cannon Baptist Church in Grand Rapids.  

We are still working through what some of the next steps are for us.  
Here are some things we know and some things we would appreciate your prayers for.  Obviously this planning is in light of James 4:13-17.

We are planning to stay in the Grand Rapids area.

School and Krista’s work

The kids and Krista are continuing at Northpointe Christian School.  The NPC administration, staff and families have been great.  Krista will begin her second year as a paraprofessional at the elementary school.  Joel is going into 10th grade.  Josiah is going into 7th grade.  Jadyn is going into 3rd grade.  Pray for the start of the new school.  

Housing

As it relates to housing, we are not sure the length of time we have at our current rental.  Once again, we know we have been extremely blessed by God through the Shelners.  When needed, we are going to begin looking for a rental.  Even now we are keeping our eyes and ears open to possiblities.  Pray for wisdom. 

David’s work

My last day of work at West Cannon Baptist Church is August 24^th.  I have two months of severance pay.  During that time I am going to begin look for work in the Grand Rapids area.  If you know of any possibilities let me know.  At this time, I am not going to be looking for a pastoral ministry but hope to in the future.  Pray for wisdom.

Church

August 26^th is my last Sunday at WCBC as part of the staff.  Some people have asked if we will continue attending West Cannon.  While we love the people at WCBC and love its commitment to Biblical truth, for now we have decided it would be best not to attend.  There are many other good churches and we are looking forward to visiting some of them.  Pray for opportunities to be blessed and be blessing to others.

It has been a crazy year and a half.  It definitely has not gone the way I would have planned but thank God I am not God.

We appreciate your prayers.  Pray that we would continue to grow in our faith in God. 

One of the first verses I highlight when I get a new Bible is the same verse I have written out in many of my journals and the same  verse that has been on the side panel of this blog almost since the beginning is Acts 20:24, which is very relevant right now.

Everything for Good

It was a challenging Sunday morning.

Taught about Romans 8:28 in our Sunday School class after reading my resignation letter in the morning service.  

That resignation letter part is probably a shock to many people.  
Over the last two months, the elders at West Cannon and I have had some conversations about long-term ministry fit.

But before I share some of the details about this new time of transition in the Rodgers family I want to share a couple of truths from scripture.

First, the Genesis class is in our 3rd week of a study on The Most Misused Scriptures in the Bible.  This week's lesson is Romans 8:28.  Part of the lesson is this 9 minute Look at the Book video from Desiring God.  You can also click HERE to see all 32 study videos on Romans 8.

Second, two weeks ago I shared the following with a friend and then shared it on Facebook.  As I was sharing these truths with others, I was also working on reminding myself of these same truths from recent Fighter Verses.

For those facing any type of challenge in this life, and really who isn't, I want to encourage you to look to God by spending time in His Word.  The Fighter Verses Memory Plan is a great way to do this.  Over the last 7 weeks the verses have been such an encouragement.  Six of the verses are great reminders of who God is and what we need to do.  James 4:13-17, Psalm 18:30; Philippians 4:6-8 and Psalm 42:11.  The seventh verse is the great truth of the Gospel - Luke 19:10.  Get your Bible out and check out these awesome verses.

In this post, I have included the statement that I read Here is the statement that I read this Sunday morning (8/10/18) at West Cannon Baptist 

Today's Gospel Primer is the following

"The more I comprehend the full scope of the gospel, the more I value the church for which Christ died, (Ephesians 5:25 - "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her) the more I value the role that I play in the lives of my fellow-Christians, and the more I appreciate the role that they must be allowed to play in mine." 

Dear Church family, 
We are confident that God has used our time here for His glory and to help West Cannon. At the same time, over the last two months, it has become clear to the elders and me that my gifts and some ministry philosophy ideas and West Cannon’s needs are not a good long-term fit. While this has been a very difficult time and a very difficult decision, we understand and agree with the decision.   

We are thankful that God has given us the opportunity to serve Him during this time.  We have been extremely blessed over this past year by so many different people in so many different ways.  

Thank you for all that you have done to welcome and care for our family. We know God has used our time here to grow ourselves and the family of WCBC for His glory and for that we are thankful. 

We are praying and will continue to pray for the ministry of West Cannon and look forward to see how God is going to use of the Biblical counseling ministry in West Cannon and Western Michigan. 

We would very much appreciate your prayers as we seek God’s direction for us.

There is a lot that we are still processing through at this time.  As we learn more and make decisions, we will keep you posted here.

Here is the statement that Pastor Doug read.

As stated, Dave's resignation reflects a mutual recognition - on his part and the elders, that his gifts and unique styles are not lining up in the way we had all planned with the unique culture and needs of West Cannon. 

We, the elders, want it clearly communicated that Dave has in no way disqualified himself for ministry.  Dave and Krista's love for the Lord, love for His church, their character, and walk of faith are exemplary.  As we discussed this potential decision over the past 8 weeks or so we have been even more impressed by their sincere faith.  In times of testing - when we are squeezed, our true character comes to the surface.  This time of testing for Dave and Krista has further revealed a mature faith.

We also want you to know that Dave’s ministry has produced some very desirable fruit, not only in the lives of individuals he has ministered to but also for our church family. Dave’s efforts resulted in a new partnership with Faith Baptist Church in Lafayette, Indiana to host a Biblical Counseling / Discipleship conference at West Cannon. Our goal, and theirs, is for West Cannon to be a regional center for training that will benefit the greater body of Christ in Michigan. We also believe that this will become a critical component of our ministry for years to come that will benefit our family and our community. 

You may ask, "Why now?  Why not give it more time?"  Good questions. 

Dave has served the Lord in vocational ministry for many years and has established an understanding and commitment of how best to do ministry. A year ago we – the Rodgers and the elders, believed that his style of ministry and philosophy of ministry would dovetail well into our ministry for a long time. Now we believe that putting off what seems inevitable could lead to undesirable levels of frustration and possible conflict. Neither of us wants that for ourselves or the other.  

After a year of diligently seeking to buy a house the Rodgers still have not been able to purchase one.  Knowing that there were some “questions” about how well Dave’s gifts and style of ministry were lining   up with our needs we thought it best to come to a decision before they purchased a house, potentially complicating the situation. 

With three school-aged children and Krista working at a local school making a decision now is much better   than during the school year. Though this still creates some difficult decisions now is preferable than later. 

In reflection it is fair to say that the need for this transition surprises us ... confuses us ... frustrates us ... and saddens us. 

In our elders’ meeting this past Wednesday we determined to thoroughly evaluate our responsibility for what has happened and what needs to be changed in our ministry to prevent this from happening again. 

We are going to thoroughly research, clarify, and state our vision for discipleship in / through our adult ministries and lead our congregation into embracing/adopting this vision. 

We are going to review our process for seeking and vetting potential candidates for future positions. 

We know that there will be questions you have about what happened - that's understandable.  Please know that we are seeking to be as open as possible while respecting regulations regarding employment issues.  If you have questions or concerns the best way to address them is to talk with one of our elders - Tim Anderson, Bruce Bonnell, Tom Cizauskas, Dave Parmerlee, Rob Wynalda, or me.  We may or may not be able to answer your questions but that is the best first step.

Krista and I would greatly appreciate your prayers and I know the leaders at West Cannon Baptist Church would appreciate your prayers.

We are not sure exactly what the next steps are.
What we do know is that I will be at West Cannon through August 24 and I will receive 2 months of severance pay.
As of right now, we are planning to stay in the Grand Rapids area. 

Pray that we would remember the truth of Romans 8:28