From the Chief Sheepdog under the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ:

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Since the Mediation Settlement Agreement has been ratified by all parties, the Diocese, Trinity, and the Stayers’ Board, we are moving forward with a transition which will have the majority leave the Trinity property by July 1, 2008. Two days ago you should have received a SPU with the media release of the story. You will also be receiving a USPS letter which will describe in greater detail what all that means for you as shepherds and as members of the majority.

The future of the new church

I am honored to be able to say that I have accepted God’s call to serve as the first rector of the new church, starting July 1.

“Promised Land Anglican Church” will eventually be known as “Christ Church Vero Beach.” The name “Promised Land” was the perfect choice for its beginning as a church looking forward to leaving Egypt, escaping slavery under Pharaoh, crossing the Red Sea, and marching toward the Promised Land. But now the seas have parted and the church is marching forward.

In the Bible, it is often God’s will that when He touches a life in a powerful way, that person’s name is changed. Think about Abram and Sarai following God and becoming “Abraham” and “Sarah.” Or Jacob wrestling with the angel of God and being renamed “Israel.” How about the vicious Pharisee Saul meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus and ending up as the great apostle “Paul”? Or Simon becoming the rock, “Peter”?

Likewise, God is doing a great thing to the Promised Land community in this moment of transition. Changing its name to “Christ Church Vero Beach” reflects His powerful hand. Senior Warden Jim Reamy is working on the legal steps to make that name change, so stand by.

Again, we are moving legally to make Promised Land known as “Christ Church Vero Beach.” You may still check out its website at www.promisedlandanglican.org. Donations should still be made to “Promised Land.” The transitional address for PLAC/Christ Church is H. James Reamy, III, CPA, 815 Beachland Blvd, Vero Beach, FL, 32963.

What lies ahead will be a pioneering adventure in faith, one which
-- will rest solely upon the authority of Scripture,
-- will be solidly Anglican in worship,
-- will focus on Christ’s transforming of lives in Indian River County.

In fact, by God’s grace that ministry is ready to be launched. The keys to a successful transition will be prayer, people, and passion:
-- prayer: intercession for the new start and thanksgiving for the past
-- people: quality staff are part of the majority’s new start
-- passion: committed lay leaders…and you.
Some of you may want to take time to make your decision. That’s fine, check out the new church, pray, and see what the Lord wants you to do.

Many of you are already committed to the new church. I thank God for you, for your faithfulness, your willingness to risk for Christ, and your generosity to get this ministry started.
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A key piece of that transition depends specifically on you. I am asking you to hold neighborhood dessert/coffees in the next two months for all those who have declared their intent to leave Trinity. Members of the pastoral staff and Vestry will attend each one. We will get you a list of invitees and the names of those staffers and Vestry who will be attending so that by May 13 you may invite them.

I realize that some of you and other majority members may have plans to be out of town. I understand that the timing on this could be better. Nevertheless, I want to contact as many of our flock members as possible to attend as soon as possible. They need to hear from us and be able to ask questions of us.
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The one question we can’t answer yet but are working very hard to resolve is “so where’s it going to be?”

Volunteers have been quietly scouting various sites around the county for several weeks now. It will probably be at least two weeks before we can answer the question. So please be patient, and trust in the Lord.
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In interviewing with the directors of this new church the other day I was asked about my vision.

Remarkably, most of this came to me in a dream on October 1 of 2005. You may recall that at that time we were just getting ready to open the new church buildings. So when I awakened that day, I wrote down the dream and tucked it away.

I had forgotten about it till the directors asked me the question. I remembered the dream and found the notes I had written that morning. I then made some minor changes and shared the vision with the directors.

Back in October of 2005 I thought our Lord was preparing us for a new church building. Little did I know that he was really preparing us for a new church.

But I should have known. For the dream parish is all about people. Not one word about buildings, program, goals, or money. It’s about the kind of people with whom I want to serve Jesus.

A Dream Parish

Believing
-- a company of believers who acknowledge the truth of the Holy Scriptures, the beliefs of the historic Creeds, and the authority of Godly apostles in the great tradition of Anglican Christianity
-- a core of believers fanatically committed to Jesus and the vision He sets before us

Worshipping
-- Sabbath attendees who love to worship and sing
-- listeners whose eyes glisten when they hear his Word preached
-- hearts hungry for God’s plain truth in the Word written and in the Word made visible in the Sacraments
-- lives yearning to hear of God’s mercy
-- teens ready to serve with dignity and grace
-- musicians capable of a great range of sacred music

Growing
-- discipler-types whose hearts are committed to growing men and women in the likeness of Christ
-- students of all ages who can't get enough Bible study
-- children whose playful shrieks we hear every morning
-- long-timers to tell us of the events and people who set today's patterns
-- committed teens to remind us why God made some things black and white
-- pilgrims ready for a tangible relationship with the God of the Old Testament and the New Testament

Caring
-- bold laity with a heart for caring for one another who just do it and tell the clergy later
-- healers gifted to bring God’s balm to wounded bodies and souls
-- widows whose souls still live and who love to hug
-- adults comfortable with the importance of life from conception to natural end
-- many who love to eat

Sharing
-- rock-solid evangelicals with a vision for saving souls
-- socially-aware types to keep us mindful of Jesus’ order to clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, feed the hungry
-- newcomers to help us see what it's really like to try to join our community
-- seekers to keep us from getting glib about the Gospel
-- African-Americans and Hispanics to help us remember that God gave Noah
three sons, not one, on purpose

Supporting
-- wildly generous believers whose gifts truly are for God and whose love for God blesses all
-- some folk who understand balance sheets and can ask hard questions about the finances
-- loyal, gifted support staff who keep our feet on the ground
-- pastors, ordained and lay, whose gifts complement one another

-- the Holy Spirit, patient with my failings, yet ever-ready to revive and renew His church
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Remember that I said above that staffing was a key component? Well, I am excited to say that we intend to bring not only our pastoral staff – Pittman, Hanson, Johnson, Robbins, Balius, Stull, and Coyle – with us, but we also want to bring our invaluable support staff – Linnartz, Toperzer, Stephens, Coulson, Hankinson, Lee, Sutton, Carl, and Tomlinson – with us. We hope also to be able to bring our excellent part-timers with us as well.

You might ask why bring all those staffers when we will be serving a smaller congregation? That’s a good question, and one I’ve had to answer several times already.

Ministry is a highly people-intensive work. Not only does it require significant one-on-one clergy contact in pastoring, but the Biblical vision of ministry sees laypeople taking significant roles in everything from finances to teaching to feeding to reaching out to evangelizing to healing to setting the altar to training acolytes, and so on. Those lay ministers need consistent training and support to do their work. The support staff is therefore not only critical to the work of the pastoral staff but also to the work of the lay ministers of the parish. Just this week Darcel Jackman, a dad in one of our new families, said that he and his wife had checked out a number of churches in Vero and Trinity had by far the best ministries for families anywhere.

Moreover, we want to be poised for growth, not maintenance. This staff configuration will set us in the mode to grow, by God’s grace.
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I cannot begin to tell you how my heart is rejoicing in this new challenge. In fact, I have had to pray several times today the ancient preces from Evening Prayer (BCP, p. 71): Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous, and all for thy love’s sake.

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