FAMILY SITUATION

      I appreciate all of you being here for this update.  What I want to do is quickly give you an update on our family situation, the implications for the church, what we’re doing about it and then save some time at the end to field any questions that you may have. 

      At the end of February, I announced to you that I was stepping down at the end of August in order to move to the East Coast to attend seminary and also be with my mom.  I also mentioned that we were unsure of our timeline because our move out east depended on a number of factors. 

      Well, shortly after we made our announcement, Esther and I realized that our move out East wasn’t going to happen any time soon.  There were a number of factors that made our move uncertain.  For the sake of time, I’ll give you 3.  One, Rich Hart, who was set on moving with us needed another year with his school district given all the budget issues.  Two, my mom’s financial situation wasn’t the most ideal for her to help us out so that I could go to school, and three, Esther is applying to grad school for Fall of 2011, and a part of me wanted her to have more flexibility on where to apply. 

      Given these factors, we decided that we would stay in the Bay Area for a few years to sort stuff out, which then put me in a situation where I needed to figure out what to do for a job.  I began searching here or there for other ministry opportunities.  At the same time, I entertained the option of going back to law if I couldn’t find anything.

      In early May, I met with Dave Chae, pastor of our mother church GrX Sunnyvale.  I gave him an update of our situation, and told him that I was looking for a job starting 9/1, and we then discussed the possibility of me returning to GrX Sunnyvale in some capacity.  He submitted my name to their LT, who then requested that a process be in place where they would open up the position to other candidates.  I told him that I would put aside other options and give GrX Sunnyvale until 6/15 to make me an offer.  My reason for this was because I needed to line something up for my family, and 6/15 was cutting it close.   

      At the end of May, Dave informed me that the position at GrX Sunnyvale was very uncertain.  The next day our landlords, who have been very gracious to us since we moved in, told us that they had potential renters who were interested in the house, and that they needed to know what we were going to do.  Because at this point everything was still up in the air, we informed them that if they needed for us to move, we would adjust and move by 8/1 if needed.  I realized that I had to balance their interests in our decision making as well.  These developments put some pressure on me to make a move on behalf of my family so I decided to start applying to legal positions.  Earlier this month, I had lunch with my old boss at my old law firm, and she made me an offer that I accepted.  

      I am currently set to start on 6/28.  This does not mean that I will leave the community on 6/28.  It just means that I have to transition a lot of my day to day responsibilities by 6/28, which I’ve started to do.  Our last official Sunday here will be 8/1.       

TRANSITION PLAN

      As far as transition details, Victor will be interim lead pastor effective 7/1 through 10/31.  He will take on more pastoral and preaching responsibilities, but we have also scheduled a number of guest speakers during the transition period that will support him so that he’s not overwhelmed. 

      To support Victor, we have hired 2 part time directors that will cover a lot of the church administration and other major ministry responsibilities.  They both have started already, but they have agreed to defer the start of payroll until 7/1, which works out well financially for us since I will be off payroll on 7/15.  Vicki Kuan is our new director of operations.  Her main role will be to oversee finances and overall church administration.  Pam Lee is our new children’s ministry director and director of communications.  Both positions will entail about 20 hours a week, and we are really excited that they are coming on board.  Your new lead pastor, Brian Hui, will officially start on 11/1.        

REQUESTS

      We are going to need your help in order to keep this transition smooth.  I know things are moving fast, so please be proactive about supporting Victor, Pam and Vicki through this.  I will be available to them as long as they need me to be, but you are the community that they will need to lean on to get through this well.  Please pray for them, support them and take care of them, and I ask that you do likewise when Brian comes on board.  Let us be that one body with many parts that Paul so well articulates in Ephesians 4.  I know that you will, and I am really excited about the future of our church.   

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS

      Personally, I wish I had some insightful revelation about everything that’s happened in the past months that I could share with you, but I don’t.  It has been a very confusing roller coaster ride for my family and everyone who’s processed this with us.  The only certainty I have with respect to making sense of all this is that it will all make sense in hindsight whenever that will be.  Please continue to pray for us and specifically for me that we would trust God more during this period of time.