Our Next Chapter

February 6, 2008

Dear Metro Family,

I am writing this letter to inform you that for the last several months I have been prayerfully considering my next steps in ministry. Karie and I have sought God; we have spoken with Godly counsel and have searched our own hearts about our future decisions. We feel that we are at a turning point in both our personal lives and our ministry lives. We sense a leading from God to step out and trust Him as he leads our hearts into the next chapter of our story. We sense that there is something more “out there” for us and we have to be willing to pursue it.

It is with great peace and assurance that we offer our resignation as Student Pastors at the Metropolitan Church of God. Our church has become a part of our extended family. We love and appreciate so many of you. We leave Metro with a grateful heart and thankful spirit that God has allowed us twelve years of service.

It is important for you as our Metro family to know that our decision in no way should be a direct reflection of the recent happenings and developments within our church body. In fact, this journey began for us in the fall of 2006. Unaware of what it all meant, Karie and I began to feel a restlessness about our future ministry. I knew I could not be a youth pastor forever and God began to deal with us about that. To some extent we dealt with that issue and moved on. Then in May 2007 we felt a restlessness again about our personal future and the direction of our ministry. In early October of 2007 we began to sense that all of this was connected and that God was preparing us for the next chapter of our lives. The tough part of thinking in those “next chapter” terms is that in order to open the next chapter, we first have to close the previous chapter. It is also difficult since we are not completely sure what the next chapter looks like because we have yet to explore it. Simply stated, we are pursuing God and what’s next for our lives.

We have ministry dreams that God has given to our family. We sense that we are on the edge of a brand new adventure. As you might imagine, this is all new to us and the dreams and plans are still unfolding. We are planning on living in Birmingham where I will pursue employment. This will allow us to walk out the ministry dreams and ambitions that God has placed in our hearts. We are not leaving the ministry but rather God is redirecting our ministry. Our desire is that each new ministry endeavor we pursue will be an extension of Metro Church.

We love Metro and cherish the memories we have from our years of service. Our students and leaders that have been with us for many wonderful years will continue to bear the fruit of what God has done through us for more than a decade. We love this place!

It is our desire that Sunday, February 24th, serve as our last Sunday as members of the Metro Church staff. We greatly appreciate the leadership, concern, and compassion that Pastor Mark Schrade has shown to us. Metro has a great history of graceful pastors and we know that Metro is in good hands. We support Pastor Mark and believe that great days are ahead of Metro under his leadership. We wish Metro and its wonderful Pastoral Staff many years of God’s blessing.

Sincerely,


Micah & Karie Andrews,
Olivia & Ella