Dear Friends,

It is with both great excitement and sadness that I write this letter to you.

Yesterday I accepted a job offer to be the research assistant to Rich Nathan who is the senior pastor of the Vineyard Church of Columbus in Ohio, which is the largest church in the Association of Vineyard Churches. In addition to pastoring this church, Rich also writes books and speaks internationally. My job would be to assist Rich in his writing and speaking engagements, including the weekend sermons. This job will allow me to continue in my learning and growing as a pastor which I hope will prepare me for senior pastoring somewhere in the near future. The door for this opportunity started to open up last May when I approached Rich about some distant pastoral mentoring, and these discussions led to him offering me this job. If everything goes as planned, we will be moving to Columbus sometime in March and I will be starting my job on April 1st.

Rand and I have been talking extensively about this opportunity even before the interview and he has been tremendously supportive of my accepting this position. Of course there is great sadness on both of our parts, as we have been working together closely for the past three years and have known each other for almost 10 years. Rand gave me my first shot at being a pastor and I will be forever grateful for his taking a chance on me and hiring me as his assistant pastor. It will be a difficult transition for both of us but we believe that this is something that is of God.

The church board and staff will be working on a transitional plan to find a replacement for me. Rand has also been in contact with his mentors and has been receiving counsel on how to best make this transition. We trust that God will send someone who will be a perfect fit for this position at this time in the history of this church. He always provides! He always does!

We will be sharing this news with the church this Sunday. Rand and I just wanted you to hear this from me personally before you hear it on Sunday morning. I imagine that some of you may have questions for us and the upcoming move. And some of you may have questions about our church in this time of transition. We hope to create avenues in which these questions can be addressed in a positive way in the upcoming weeks and months. Please join me in praying for our church during this season. We also want to ask you to please pray for our family during this season. We are excited by what awaits us in Columbus, but at the same time, we are saddened to leave behind the wonderful relationships here that have been growing over the years.

Angela and I want to express our deepest gratitude for letting us be a part of your life and the Hyde Park Vineyard Church, Oak Park Vineyard Church, and other communities. It has been a wonderful journey and our hearts are full because of your friendship. We hope that in the 5 months that we have left together, that we will have more opportunities to share with each of you how grateful we are for you!

Sincerely,
Insoo, Angela, Elliot, and Baby (due May 3rd):)