Tuesday, December 9, 2008

pulling up stakes...

after about 6 weeks of meetings, phone conferences, traveling for further discussions, and preaching for the congregation, i have accepted the full time position of pastor at cave city baptist church in cave city, ky. we will be moving on dec. 31st and our first sunday with our new church family will be jan. 4th.

we are very excited and are looking forward to the transition. the church is much larger than where we have been, bringing with it much more responsibility- which is both exciting and terrifying.

we ask for prayer regarding the following:

1) resigning and leaving our current church.- i have been part time/bi-vocational there for nearly 2 years. as is typical in a small church, we have grown very close to them and they to us. they knew that i would eventually move on to something full time, but it is still hard when the time actually comes. pray for them as they seek their next pastor.

2) the move - my bad back (2 surgeries) will not allow me to do much in the way of physically moving, which puts us at the mercy of people in louisville who are willing to show up to help us load and un-load the truck. also christi being 6 months pregnant and charlie being the first (and currently only) grandchild on the "allen" side of the family makes for competing emotions to say the least. pray for charlie as well, that he would adjust to his new home and surroundings well.

3) trust and faith in the face of changing lifestyles - christi will not be working and our daughter (piper) is due in april. we prayed about this a lot before moving forward with the process. we feel like this is what the lord wants from us, so we know he will provide. we just ask that you pray that we would trust him in every way.

4) the most obvious, that the lord would be glorified, that the gospel would be promoted effectively, and that i will be an obedient follower and minister of christ as i lead his church at cave city.


here are a couple of pictures of where we will be. we will have an extra bedroom in the parsonage, so visitors are welcome!



front corner of the church as seen from the intersection


from the back corner of the parking lot

the parsonage/church owned pastor's home. it is roughly 100 yards from the church with a gigantic fenced in backyard for the kids. between the house and the church is a large playground that i am sure will take charlie .5 seconds to fall in love with.
we will give more info and updates as they come....

12 comments:

Matt Privett said...

Brother, I hate to lose you right there in the "neighborhood," but wish you well, and more important, God's blessing not only on this move, but also on the new child. I'll be praying for you.

Mel said...

God is Good! Congratulations guys!

bcripps said...

Congratulations/condolences on the new position. It is hard leaving somewhere you've been so long, but we will pray that God will provide them with a new pastor, and that He will provide you with many good years of ministry of the Word ahead of you.

I would love to come help you move, but we are expecting our baby girl any day! The church in Cave City would, I'm sure, be willing to send some men up to help you move, though.

Enjoy Cave City! I have good memories there. Bowling Green isn't that far away, either!

The Fitzgerald's said...

CONGRATS on the job and on your baby girl!

Phillip said...

God's gonna use you to do great things there Stephen, I know it. You may not be able to move a lot of furniture, but you can sure carry a lot of Jesus. Go get 'em bro.

Elizabeth said...

That is so great! I am so happy for you all...just keep up the blog so we can stay up to date! Just how far from Louisville is Cave City?

Anonymous said...

wow, lots of changes. Again, congrats. We'll be praying!

Emily Doss said...

congrats guys- transitions can be hard, but it's also exciting to start a new chapter...and what a great time to start something new on Jan 1st!

Anonymous said...

Congrats and best wishes to your entire, entirely cute family! I'm so glad to see everything falling into place for you'll.

Love the Charlie pics. :-)

dgsandbjsmom said...

You will love having and being a stay at home mom/housewife. It is sort of lonly at first but the kids will stay healthier and happier. I hope the move goes well and that plenty of people show up to help lift and carry boxes.

Brando said...

Congrats on the awesome opportunity. Hope all goes well and that things go well on all fronts.

OKeedokey said...

Way to go Uncle Stephen!!
We would love to come visit you some day and see the family and meet Piper. ( I love that name!)