“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build.”
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-3, NIV)

Do you know what’s a bad sign?  When the pastor preaches a series on tithes, stressing the need for giving, and then announces a sermon based on this passage from Ecclesiastes.  You can pretty well bet that there are big changes afoot.  Or if he’s not happy for a long time, and then preaches a series from Titus on the qualifications of a pastor.  Yep, that’s a bad sign, too.

Pastor opened with the Ecclesiastes passage today, and then dropped the bomb – the church is closing.  Next week is the last service.  This came as a surprise to everyone except the church board.  Maybe it wasn’t such a surprise, because giving has been way down, and he just finished an extended series on the importance of tithes.  Apparently that series didn’t have its intended effect.

At a previous church, the pastor seemed to have lost his enthusiasm for preaching, and then preached a several week series from Titus.  Uh, oh.  Sure enough, he then announced that “God had called him elsewhere in ministry.”

What’s the right way to close a church, or to announce your resignation as a pastor?  Is there a right way?  In both instances, there were misunderstandings, hurt feelings, anger, and finally for most, acceptance that God is in control, not us.  Obviously we haven’t worked through all of that in the present case, but I trust and pray that it will happen.