July 1, 2021
Directors, Trustees, and Members of Community Bible:
For the past nineteen years it has been my honor to serve as one of your pastors. Over these two decades God has been overwhelmingly good to us as we have sought to know and serve Him. He has allowed us a front seat as he has transformed hundreds of lives in the River Valley and beyond. Who would’ve guessed on that first Sunday that the few hundred of us gathered in the Mall would go on to see all that the Lord has done?
We have found life in Jesus. We have grown through preaching, music, small groups, and friendship. He has shown his faithfulness in every circumstance and we have been recipients of His grace more times than we can count.
We have loved our neighbors. Through tragedies, successes, grief, floods, and heartbreaks we have shared with others what God has given to us. We have clothed, fed, loved, and supported our communities sometimes with our name out-front and many times in ways that no one will ever know.
We have helped others do the same. We have been the ones God chose to use to transform, baptize, disciple, and encourage others as they have come to serve God. Many of those people continue to worship alongside of us while many others have spread across the country and globe to make Jesus known in different locations.
Through it all God has been faithful, and you have been generous, kind, and supportive of me, Jenny, Ella and Silas.
From day one, we returned to Fort Smith with the idea that we would stay here for the entirety of our ministry. I often said, “it would take a rare opportunity for me to ever leave.” But now, we believe that opportunity has been presented.
Beginning September 1, I will become the Married Life Pastor at Bayside Church in the greater Sacramento, CA area. This new position is being created with the hopes of transforming marriages not just at Bayside, but across the country. We hope to build a local ministry with a national impact.
Obviously, this move requires me to resign as the Lead Pastor at Community Bible. I look forward to preaching at the Fort Smith Campus on July 11, 25, and then my last day on August 1. Unfortunately, because of other commitments, I will not be able to visit Van Buren, Greenwood, or North Fort Smith on one of my remaining Sundays.
It has been an honor to spend the last nineteen years with you and a particular privilege to be your Lead Pastor for the last thirteen years. I believe the next leader can build on the work we have done and ensure that the most meaningful days of ministry for Community Bible are still in the future.
God Bless,
Kevin
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