Staff Update

Church – 

On Sunday March 14th we shared with our church members that Chad Watson would be transiting off our elder team and staff. It was a hard meeting. Saying goodbye to an elder and his family is gut-wrenching. Few of us slept well. Disagreement is difficult, and loving each other means we open ourselves up to pain and disappointment. We're not alone in this. Parting from those with whom we have ministered and love is common. It happened to Paul and Barnabas in the first century; "There arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other" (Acts 15:39). Despite this separation God was faithful to his purposes, and to Paul and Barnabas. Despite the separation we're walking through, we trust that God will be faithful to us as a church family and to the Watson family. 

Back in November Chad shared with our elder team a conflict in his spirit about his vocational calling. The elders thought some time away would be fruitful for him to consider his ministry calling. He agreed. This led to Chad's sabbatical in December. Upon the Watson's return, the elders and our wives met to hear more about how the Watson's sensed the Lord leading and guiding them. These meetings included conversations about theological convictions as well as the culture and expectations of community amongst the elders and our families. In short, these distinctives led Chad and his family to the decision to pursue the Anglican Church tradition. Additionally, our time revealed an impasse related to these expectations of vulnerability within our elder team and church. These irreconcilable differences were voiced, clarified, and affirmed by all four elders at a meeting on February 20th.  

On March 1st the elders presented Chad with a timeline and a financial plan for the transition. We shared these details with our members on March 14th. However the following day (March 15th) we received new information. The elders believed this new information deemed it necessary to augment the transition plan because it seemed clear trust was broken. Chad's last day as an elder and on staff at Church in the Square was Wednesday, March 17th. 

Our motivation in all this is transparency not condemnation (Romans 8:1). We have followed the the course prescribed in Matthew in order to seek reconciliation with our brother, which has led us to sharing all this with the church family (Matthew 18:15-17). 

We love Chad, Lauren, and their two boys. God has used them to bear fruit in our fellowship, helped us to see the gospel more fully, and to love Jesus more. Though it is hard to disagree and separate we harbor no bitterness toward them, and instruct you, our church family, to refuse any such impulse too. Instead we bless them and pray for them. I think our prayer for them is summarized well in Paul's prayer for the Ephesian church, "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:14-19). 

Chad's staff responsibilities will be overseen by me (Jason) and Christina Wolken (Minister for Connection) as we build teams around Sunday liturgy and discipleship. This will serve us in the long term but also provide time and space for us to consider the possibility of new eldership and filling this staff vacancy.

Lastly, we realize the content of this transition brings up important questions of accountability and vulnerability within community. In the coming weeks we'll be sharing more from the Scriptures about how we believe Jesus has incarnated vulnerability in community and by his Spirit empowers us to live in kind within our church family. We pray this will be a formative consideration for our whole church. 

If there is anything you would like to discuss with our elder team we believe 1 Timothy 5:17-25 instructs you, our brothers and sisters, about how to hold us accountability before the Lord. We ask you to consult this and other relevant passages and please let us know if you have any questions, concerns, or disagreements. 

Much love, 

Jason

**This note has been amended from a members letter that was sent out Wednesday, March 17th**