July 7, 2024
Dear Providence Baptist Family,
For nearly 12 years, we have been on an amazing journey together. We have wept with one another, rejoiced with one another, and witnessed the Lord accomplish great and mighty things together. These past 12 years, represent the most fruitful period of ministry I have ever known.
When the Lord brought my family and me to Providence Baptist Church, we were hurting just like you were hurting and together God mended our hearts. Our first great discovery was that God was already here and at work. There was a core group of members who had the faith to dream big and the courage to trust God to do what He alone could do. We have witnessed Him do the impossible.
God has been faithful in keeping every promise made in His Word. We have sown and watered, and God has given the increase. Souls have been saved. Lives have been changed. Believers have been trained and discipled. Together, we have grown in our knowledge of God and His Word. God has paid off our debts and provided the funds to renovate and refurbish every part of the facility. He has given us multiple busses. He has worked in such a profound way that the Providence Baptist Church is known and respected in our community for all the right reasons. Through our mission program, God is using this church to reach the world from Ooltewah. We not only support multiple missionary endeavors, but Providence is the sending church of multiple missionaries. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
When I accepted your invitation to be your pastor, I did so with the promise that I would stay until God moved me. That time has come. The Lord has made it abundantly clear that my pastoral ministry here has come to an end. I officially give notice of my resignation. If you will permit it, my final Sunday to serve as your pastor will be August 11, 2024.
This decision has been difficult, but I know that if I stayed, I would be walking in disobedience and would be holding you back from the blessings that God has in store for you. The greatest days of the Providence Baptist Church are yet to come. I want to encourage you to stay the course and trust God in this transition. He has a pastor of His choosing who will lead you to greater heights and greater victories. This is not the end of Providence Baptist Church. This local assembly was established in 1866, and if you keep your eyes upon the Lord, this ministry will continue till Christ returns, and it will go forward from strength to strength.
To those who have recently found Providence Baptist Church, do not lose heart. Remember, it was not John Jones who brought you here. God Himself brought you here for such a time as this. He brought you here because you are needed right here, right now. To the long-standing members, let us rejoice because, for the first time in a long time, Providence Baptist will experience a change in pastoral leadership in a season of strength and not in a struggle or decline.
After 27 years of ministry, serving as a foreign missionary and a pastor, God is allowing me to take the lessons I have learned through practical experience and teach them to young people who will serve as future pastors and missionaries worldwide. This is not a position that I have sought. The fact is, I would have been content to remain here for the rest of my life. But God has made His will fully known in this matter, and I must go. The Lord is sending me to serve alongside the staff and faculty of Crown College and Crown Seminary in Powell, Tennessee.
I have loved serving as your pastor and will cherish every memory of our time together. I remain your friend and will do everything I can to help you during this time of transition. I ask that you pray for me and my family as we enter this new chapter.