Beloved, today is my final day serving as your pastor. Effective tomorrow, Pastor Dane will be your pastor and I will begin serving Galesville UMC. This means I will not be returning for worship, pastoral care, visits, funerals, weddings, baptisms, or other events unless invited by your current pastor. LUMC will forever be in my heart as my first appointment and the community into which I baptized our first-born child. Know that you will always be in my prayers.
I leave you with the words from the Order of Farewell liturgy in the Book of Worship that, if I hadn’t been on maternity leave, I would have shared this past week:
I thank you, the members and friends of Lansdowne United Methodist Church,
for the love and support you have shown me
while I have ministered among you.
I am grateful for the ways my leadership has been accepted.
I ask forgiveness for the mistakes I have made.
As I leave, I carry with me all that I have learned here.
I trust that our time together and our parting are pleasing to God.
I release you from turning to me and depending on me.
I encourage your continuing ministry here and will pray for you, for Pastor Dane, and for all pastors to come.
Let us pray together:
Eternal God, whose steadfast love for us is from everlasting to everlasting, we thank you for cherished memories and commend one another into your care as we move in new directions. Keep us one in your love forever, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
In Christ,
Pastor Emily
