Nothing is constant but change
The past three months have been some of the longest, yet most fruitful in the life of the Fries family. In a miraculous way, you might say, God spoke to me just over three months ago and shared with me that a specific church would be calling me. Within 3 days of that experience the church called and in the time since Tracy and I have prayed, sought counsel and finally concluded that God was moving us to a new ministry with this new church. As such, tonight during our church's monthly business meeting, I announced that I will be resigning effective the end of the month as Pastor at Missouri Valley Baptist Church.
In almost 5 years at Missouri Valley Tracy and I made a commitment that we would not seek out a new position. We decided that we would not circulate a resume and we would not "candidate" for a new place of service. Our commitment was to serve at MVBC until God pursued us to go elsewhere. To be honest, we really didn't expect to leave MVBC, at least not for a long time. God has pursued us in this experience, however, and this call is unmistakable and as such we are excited about the prospects that God has for us. We are also excited about what God is doing at Missouri Valley. We remain convinced that if God is leading us elsewhere, that He has tremendous plans in store for MVBC.
On October 1st I will assume my duties as the new Senior Pastor at Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church in St. Joseph, MO. Our current church is considered a St. Joseph church as well, although the two churches are about 30 minutes apart. I preached at FBBC a week and a half ago and Tracy and I were overwhelmed with the hospitality and passion from the people at FBBC. They voted with over 97% in the affirmative to extend a call to us, and as I said, we have accepted.
Though we are very excited about this new ministry, this move will be a difficult one, as well. As I said, we had no plans to leave MVBC. We would not have done so if we were not absolutely certain that God was orchestrating the move. It does not, however, lessen our love for the people at MVBC and our passion for the ministry in that area. God is moving us to a new place of service, but our love for MVBC will continue to be strong. This unexpected separation from our friends at MVBC will not be the easiest of tasks. God is faithful, however, and we trust that His leadership is sufficient.
Additionally, if you would like to view the message I preached while I was there last Sunday morning, you can do so by clicking here. I would recommend, however, that you be prepared because it's a sizable download.