Sometime ago, Kimberly and I were at a beach on the Gulf of
Mexico. It was one of those perfect
days. The sun was shining; the sand was
white, and the water was calm, clear and that perfect turquoise blue. It was so beautiful that we just stopped and
took it all in. We barely spoke. What do you say in the presence of the kind
of beauty that reaffirms the only explanation for its existence is that the
Creator is behind it all?
As I think about this past year and a half at CFNAZ, I find
myself with a similar realization: The
beauty of what God is creating in our midst is beyond words. More than 80 people have made decisions to
follow Christ! Of those, 46 have been
baptized. Four new Connection Groups
have been formed for mutual accountability and encouragement in
discipleship. Both last summer and this
summer, more than 100 people offered hands of hope through service
projects. Human trafficking victims were
helped through prayer, awareness and action.
The Pregnancy Support Center was blessed through your gifts on Mother’s
Day. Last year, a few teens went to the
summer spiritual retreat; this year, two van loads will participate. Our children are not only more safe and secure
through the check-in system and being loved by small group leaders who know
them personally, they are also learning to serve our community through such
things as the community egg hunts. The
Belle Stone Pantry and partnership is a shining example of how God can find a
way into public schools when his church cares enough to go. Tutoring at the Sahara Apartment complex is a
model of what it means to be missionaries, who rather than expecting others to
conform to our church culture meet people where they are so they might see
Jesus there too. NextGen Basketball was
not only a great program during the season, but our coaches made it a great
opportunity for follow-up after the season.
When we saw that last year’s Biker Sunday no longer brought in
unchurched bikers, Gator allowed us to make the bold move to stop that one
Sunday service so we could help fund the ministry he does with Biker’s for
Christ every week. Faith Promise Plus is
not only helping us join the Nazarene Church in doing ministry around the world
but is raising an additional $30,000 for ministry to our community and
beyond. We praise God for 58 new givers
who have stepped up to support God’s work among and through us. And what an honor it is to see not only what
Hope House 4 Women is doing every day but firsthand here on Sundays. When I came to CFNAZ, I was told we had one
or two Malone students worshipping with us; we now have several who not only
attend but serve with Bryan in worship.
We watched God give the diverse group of people called our Refocus team
a clear vision for God’s calling for us to be a church that invests in the next
generation with Jesus’ love and gospel through worship, connection, service and
living it all out where we live. Even as
I share these things, I realize there is even more I could mention. It is like walking on the beach on a perfect
day—God is doing some beautiful things at CFNAZ. It is so beautiful that you just want to
stop, take it all in and praise God!
As Kimberly and I were taking in the beauty of the beach, we
had almost missed the obvious. The beach
was full of people, but no one was in the water where we were. Why? I
looked around and saw the reason. At the
part of the beach where we were sitting, there were red flags planted in the
sand. Next to one of them was a white
sign that warned of the rip tide in this location. Even on a beautiful day when the water looked
so very calm, the red flags and sign warned us: “Don’t be deceived; it may look
beautiful, but the rip tide is so strong that even the best swimmers won’t
escape its pull.”
About six months after being at CFNAZ, I began to see red
flags on our beach. In fact, I changed
the sermon series I had originally planned for last summer and wrote a new one
based on the seven churches of Revelation, which we called “Let it Go.” You demonstrated great courage and love by
naming three red balloons for us to release as a church family so we would not
allow a rip tide to ruin the beauty of God’s work. Those that you named were: traditionalism,
putting self before God’s mission and vision, and heart issues of forgiveness,
pride and a critical spirit. What I did
not know at that time and what those who have been here for a while have since
shared is that those patterns with their various symptoms were not new here
because of the refocus process; they were patterns that have been around for a
long time. I listened as a few brave
board members dared to ask what we as leadership might do about these longtime,
repeated patterns and wondered the same.
In April, I realized that these longtime patterns could not be remedied
by me or the pastoral staff but had to be addressed by the church family
itself. I sent an all church letter
asking if the church family would be willing to look friends and family in the
eye and say, “These old patterns will no longer be tolerated.” At the annual meeting on April 26, I shared
the misconceptions that I was told an anonymous group believed, and I invited
people to come and talk with me and the board so the truth might be
determined. No one signed up. No one called. However, after that meeting, I was informed
that another group left and another group was angry. Again, the groups were anonymous, allowing
for no healthy course of action to be taken.
In the interview process, I explained that I am not the
“feel good, bring you along and wait 20 years for change” pastor. There is nothing wrong with that kind of
pastor, but that is not me. And while I
am convinced that I—and you—answered God’s clear call for the likes of me to
have the honor to serve you, it has become apparent that while some encourage
me to keep being who God called me to be and hit things straight on, others see
me as dealing too directly and harshly with these longtime issues and, in fact,
think I should be a different kind of pastor than I am. While I believe I am living out God’s call as
the pastor he has called and gifted me to be, I will agree you are right about
other things: I have many faults; I have
made mistakes, and I am weak in many areas.
It will be up to God to work in me and with me, and he knows I gave him
permission a long time ago to do that however and whenever he wants in me. But I wonder if anyone among the lay
leadership and among the membership will dare to ask, “What faults, mistakes
and weakness might it be healthy for us to allow God to address in us as a
church family?” I share this not because
I am angry, but because I believe until this rip tide is acknowledged, people
will continue to drown here needlessly.
That being said, I also believe that God could raise up some
courageous people from within this church family through whom he will not only
turn the tide but turn it into a tidal wave of his power and love. A tidal wave that could wash over this
beautiful church family with a fresh wave of the Spirit in which
traditionalism, putting self first and the heart issues of forgiveness, pride
and critical spirit could lose their pull once and for all. I believe that tidal wave of the Spirit could
break out of the walls of this building and spill into the community in a way
like neither we nor the community could have ever hoped for or imagined. Yes, you could see a revival in the church
and a spiritual awakening in the community that will show the next generation
that this is not just something the Bible talks about—it is what God still does
today.
This year and a half has been amazingly beautiful and
incredibly hard on us all, hasn’t it? I
have no regrets in accepting the call to move my family here. Kimberly, the kids and I have grown closer to
Jesus and to one another. We have been blessed to meet and fall in love with
some very special people here and in the East Ohio District. I thank God for the opportunity to work with
such an amazing staff. It has been an
honor to serve a church with such a rich history. The only regret I have is that you could get
to see firsthand the rip tide turned into a tidal wave of the Spirit and I will
not. Instead of seeing it with my own
eyes, I will only hear about it from afar.
I have become convinced that my role here was to refocus so we could see
his fresh beauty, to name the rip tide for what it is and then to humble myself
and admit that I am not the one equipped to lead you to the place where the
next move of God will take place. For
that reason, for the sake of being submitted to God’s call, for the best of the
church and for the best for my family, I offered my resignation to the you, the
Canton First Church Board, yesterday, June 27, as I have accepted a three-year
call to serve as a pastor of refocus and new starts for the South West Ohio
District Church of the Nazarene. My last
Sunday here will be July 19 and I will begin the new role in August. I promise you my prayers and I will value
yours.
With Hope in Christ,
Chad A. Current
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