An Update From Pastor Kevin
June 12, 2024
Dear Siblings in Christ,
I write to you today with a heart full of emotions. After a long season of discernment and prayer I have accepted a new pastoral call to serve as a Mission Funding Director for the ELCA.
Please know that it has been and continues to be a joy and privilege to serve as your Senior Pastor for nearly 12 years. I didn’t say “yes” to this new call because of anything lacking at FLC. I couldn’t ask for a better congregation, council, or church staff to live and serve together with as church. This is not a call to something better - I can’t imagine serving a better congregation! – but to something different. Through lots of discernment, prayer, and conversations I truly feel I am being called and that this new call is the next right thing for my health, family, and use of ministry gifts.
Beyond the challenge of my saying “yes” to a call in a year where the two best pastors I know are having a baby, (and I have thought about that a lot!) I think this transition can be a Kairos moment of God’s right timing in the life of FLC.
You are a faith-filled and gifted people with a great community, great pastoral leaders in Pastor Ben and Pastor Kristen- who I would follow anywhere- and a great future. I thank God for you, for the ways you share the gospel through worship, programming, and everyday life in grace-centered ways, and for the great ways God has and continues to shine through you! I am so proud of the culture, health, and vitality of FLC!
In taking a new call, I will need to not only stop being a pastor at Farmington Lutheran, but also step away from my participation in the life of FLC, in order for the important ministry to move forward. Please know that if I wasn’t in the unique spot of having served as one of your pastors, that FLC is where my family and I would choose to be engaged. Sally and I are both deeply grateful for how you have embraced us, as well as Isaac, Lindsey, and Luke. You have shown us the love of Christ in many ways through your kindness, compassion, and understanding.
I trust that just as the Spirit made a match between us back in 2012 that the Spirit is at work now guiding you for the next stage of this journey. As difficult as it is to say goodbye, I am confident that the God who created us, who gave his Son to die for us, and who is with us always, continues to provide us all that we need.
My call as your Senior Pastor will end on Sunday, August 4th, with my last day of preaching and leading worship at FLC. I will also be present at worship on Sunday, September 15th, where there will be a service of sending and celebration of our time together.
For those who are curious, my new call as a Mission Funding Director for the ELCA is essentially a role as a major gifts officer. It is an opportunity where I can focus on relational and strategic ministry, share the gospel, and make an impact by cultivating relationships with donors. My work will be to help people live out their generosity and provide important needs to people served by ELCA ministries: Congregations, Seminaries, World Hunger Appeal, Lutheran Disaster Response, Lutheran World Relief, Fund for Leaders, or any other ELCA Ministry. I will be working remotely from our home in Farmington and doing some traveling to serve the area of the St. Paul Area Synod, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Upper Michigan.
Pastors Ben and Kristen, our Executive Council, and I have been in planning conversations and have been working together, along with the St. Paul Area Synod office, to plan and prepare for this transition. I will savor my remaining time with you as I feel assured about FLC’s future.
Finally, thank you for the opportunity to have served as your Senior Pastor. I will always cherish you and our time in ministry together.
Blessings,
Pastor Kevin Woestehoff
