I can now share that my Bishop, Minerva Carcaño, has announced that she intends to appoint me as the Pastor of First United Methodist Church of Orange, effective July 1st, 2014.
The mantle of Executive Director has been passed to Dr. Bob Denham. Bob is a gifted lay leader, a valuable leader in his local church, and past California-Pacific Conference “Lay Person of the Year”. He most recently served as Dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of Redlands, is very involved in Kairos Prison Ministries, and is a devoted man of prayer. I am pleased to announce that Judy Gillham (JGill) will continue her excellent work as Ministries Coordinator for LIFT. Words alone can never express the gift she brings to LIFT Ministries through keeping our standards of excellence high and our trust in Christ higher still. I will retain the title of General Evangelist/Founding Director of LIFT Ministries, and continue to relate to the Board of Directors and LIFT in that capacity.
This has been an amazing 10 years, during which time a solid foundation has been laid that has opened doors for many fruitful ministry opportunities in the years to come. The grace of God and your prayers have brought LIFT Ministries this far, and we desire your continued prayers as LIFT moves forward so that we can build on that foundation.
The earnest prayers you’ve raised on our behalf have often been all the support we’ve needed to move forward in service to Christ. Now, for the first time in 10 years, LIFT is encountering opportunities for ministry that will need temporal support as well from the Body of Christ. Therefore I’m asking, as Dr. Bob Denham assumes his duties, please pray for him, and about the ways you can support the ministries LIFT is trying to bless. You’ll be hearing more about projects in San Bernardino, Riverside, and Africa in the months to come.
To you who are such good friends of LIFT, may I say simply, “Thank-you.” Thank you for these past 10 years. Thank you for your prayers–I’ve felt them every single day. As we journey on together, I remain convinced that He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Amen.
March 22, 2014
