Telling "The Secret"

Allow me to take a detour from updating you on how we got here for just one post . . . tomorrow is "the day." The day in which we tell "The Secret," as Olivia and Eli have referred to it. (Which, by the way, they have done FANTASTIC at keeping such a big secret!) Vito will be resigning from Taylor Avenue Church of the Nazarene tomorrow. Our last Sunday there will be July 28.  We've told a few people already and it was so hard. Tomorrow will be even harder as we inform our friends (many of whom have become family) that we'll be leaving. Even though we know, without doubt, that moving to Cactus is what God is calling us to do, it's not easy. So, if you are reading this tonight (I know there aren't many who even know about this blog yet), please pray for us tomorrow.

Here's a copy of Vito's resignation letter.

June 9, 2013

Dear, Taylor Avenue Church of the Nazarene Church Board, Members, and Friends:

Over the past three years that I have been pastor at Taylor Avenue, you have undoubtedly heard me encourage, preach, teach, and talk about God’s desire for us to not simply be a people who attend church, but a people who are the church beyond our walls. We have a call from God to GO and DO—to be like Christ in the very midst of our neighborhoods, in workplaces, with friends, families, and so forth. It has been incredible to see us, as a church, begin to grasp this in our everyday life. I have seen us become more and more missional—going and making Christlike disciples in our backyards, our district, our country, and our world.

It is this calling, this passion to go and be the church, to be incarnational and missional—to go and do the work of God in the midst of the world that has required me to write this letter today. Honestly, I waited as long as I could to write it because it is so difficult. Through many months of prayer, Godly counsel, and numerous confirmations from God, we are convinced that God is asking us to travel down a new path, a path that will lead us away from Racine and away from the Taylor Avenue family. This decision has been incredibly difficult for our family. The difficulty comes not in saying yes to the Lord, but in saying goodbye to all of you.

Without a shadow of a doubt, my family and I truly love being a part of the Taylor Avenue family.  We believe God led us to this place. In full trust of Him we came to Racine, Wisconsin, a place we would never have considered if not for God’s leading. We followed His call because we have committed ourselves to be led by Him. We’ve resolved to travel down the path that He sets before us. We’ve entrusted our steps to Him. We came to Taylor Avenue along that very path. In the years we have been here we have been blessed to make many of you friends and honestly family. I could not have chosen a greater group of people! I truly never thought this day would come. We’ve served here with the mindset that we would be here for years to come. However, the Lord has been stirring our hearts, honestly yanking them, and we can say with full certainty that our time here is coming to an end.

Today, June 9, 2013, I am officially submitting my resignation as your senior pastor with the full intent to provide continued leadership for the next 7 weeks. Our last Sunday will be July 28, 2013. During this transitional time we will be working with the District Superintendent, Derl Keefer, and the Church Board to make this transition as smooth as possible and to prepare all of you for whomever God brings here next.

Jenni, Olivia, Eli and I will be embarking on a completely new adventure come August. We will be moving to a very small town of less than 3,000 immigrants and refugees in the panhandle of Texas to be District Missionaries. We will serve as Directors of the Cactus Nazarene Ministry Center in Cactus, Texas. We will be responsible for developing and implementing a ministry center that will show the love of God to a poor town with 17 different nations represented. This will be done through social services such as ESL, legal assistance, medical clinics, GED, and after-school programs with the intention of furthering the kingdom of God.

I have to admit, I have asked God, “Why?” Why, when everything here is going so well? Why, when it seems God has opened the floodgates and things are really taking off? Why now? However, through this experience (more of which you will hear later), I have gained a completely new level of trust in God. One I cannot deny or shake. I simply trust Him. I trust that He will not leave you anymore than He left the disciples. He will be with you well after I am gone. I trust that whomever God leads here will be exactly who is needed to lead Taylor Avenue in the days ahead. I trust that, in the future, we will all look back and be amazed, even floored, at God’s hand, God’s timing, and God’s faithfulness.

Taylor Avenue is truly an incredible church and God is doing something great here on this corner in Racine. We have seen growth, we have seen energy and life, and we have seen the mission of God being fulfilled. I honestly love being your pastor! I pray that you will not view this transition as one of our family leaving, but instead as you sending us to do God’s work in a different location. While I will not have the privilege of pastoring here anymore, I will be praying for your continued fulfillment of God’s leading and call in your lives and in this church. I know God’s missional work is not over yet. I know you will continue to seek Him and follow after Him, regardless of who stands in the pulpit. This is one of the biggest reasons I love you.

Thank you for how you have encouraged us, supported us, and made us a part of your family.  Though my relationship with you as your pastor will change, my love for you will not.  We really believe that your best days are yet ahead, and though I will not always be your pastor, we will always be family.

Humbly and respectfully submitted,

Rev. J. Vito Monteblanco