HBC Troubles: Rod Montgomery's Resignation

This was out of the blue. The following Sunday, Rod preached his last at Hope and that was it. Granted, I didn't know him and rarely resonated with anything he said. But I had a certain respect for him and saw the congregation had significant respect for him as a man of integrity with a heart for God. But it was sudden.

Published 9/17/2017, by Rod Montgomery, an elder

Change is hard.  Any kind of change is hard.  Change is especially hard for someone who struggles with making major decisions (like me).  My mentor and former professor used to talk about those who suffered from “paralysis of analysis”.  What he meant by that is that some think so long and hard on issues that they have a hard time actually making a decision. You analyze it to death…but at some point you have to make a decision.

The Montgomery’s have decided that now is the time for us to move on in our ministry.  Next Sunday will be our last.  We have been considering this for some time and thought that now would actually be a good time for it.  When is really a good time to leave a church that you have essentially grown up in?  When is a good time to leave a church that is the only church your children have ever known?  There isn’t ever really a good time for that.  But we do have some dear friends who have a ministry in Brooklyn, Maryland and we have considered for some time going to help them as they have had a difficult time in many respects lately.  This would not be a full time position but we feel that it would help us to further develop in ministry as well as provide them additional support and encouragement.

As we’ve thought about where HBC is at this stage, we see that the Lord has brought another Pastor/Elder onto the board in Pastor David.  We also see that the Lord has brought another Pastor to the church for over a year now in Pastor Kirby who has been and will continue to be a great asset to our church.  And certainly we have a number of elder candidates, good men like Sterling and Mike in the Berean community whom the Lord is using now and is continuing to develop to bring additional support to our Elder board in addition to the great work that our Deacons and deacon candidates are doing.

We have greatly appreciated our time here over the past 11 years.  Serving as an Elder/Pastor over the past 4 years has been icing on the proverbial cake.  I have greatly appreciated Pastor Leake’s shepherding, the example that he has been as well as his leadership on the Elder board.  We have also appreciated our time as members of Pastor Plumley’s small group many years ago now at what was a very formative time for our family.  I have always appreciated my dear Tito, Pastor Gatdula – who is no longer a member of the Elder board but who will always be my Uncle, Elder brother and one of our families greatest exhorters to become missionaries to the Philippines.  In recent years I have had the privilege of working with Pastor Scott whose passion for ministry in general, counseling and shepherding care is great.  We could all use a boost of that passionate drive.  And as I have had the opportunity to work with David before his ordination as well as since, I have appreciated his exhortation as well as his depth of knowledge in the Word.  One of the great benefits of being a young Pastor at this church is the years of experience and wisdom that my fellow elder elders have and have graciously shared.  Those things are invaluable.

There are many, many more people and situations that we could call upon to acknowledge the great blessing that our time at Hope has been but time would fail.  Know that you all are and will continue to be in our hearts.  For the moment we are staying in the area so we hope to continue to see some of you from time to time.

While this is not a sermon, I could write to you for the last time as a Pastor of HBC without a brief exhortation.  Love the Lord your God with all of your hearts.  Love the appearing of Christ.  Love one another and be devoted to each other.  Pray without ceasing.  In everything give thanks.  Be humble in the coming years and do not allow a large building or “success” to move you away from the simplicity of the gospel message and our great dependence on Christ.  Preach the Gospel, preach the Word in every season.  Remember those who have gone out for His name’s sake.

Pray for us. We love you and will pray for you. The Lord is doing great things here and we are grateful for the time that we have had among you.

May the Lord bless you and keep you
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you
May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and bring you peace!

Pastor Rod - for all of the Montgomery's