A Big Change

A week ago, I handed out this letter to our churches Woodford Baptist Church and First Baptist Church Meaford.

Dear Church Family:


We are now entering our ninth year of journeying together in ministry and Christian service.  We have been able to support one another through this time.  We appreciate your prayers for our family, even as we continue to pray for you and your family.  
At this time, I come to you with a request, a request that I do not make lightly and one that is driven by circumstances close to my heart.  As you know, just over a year ago our daughter Abby went to live in a group home near Acton, Ontario.  This was an answer to prayer, as the situation at home was very difficult and this group home has been very good to Abby.  The problem is that Abby now lives 2.5 hours away from us.  While a tolerable drive for us as parents, it has become too much for Abby to come visit us and very difficult for our other children, who really want to see their sister.  Part of our agreement with the government is that Abby come home for visits twice a month.  Because of the distance, we have not been able to do that.  More importantly, we miss Abby very much and are not seeing her near enough, for all our sakes.  This has brought us to a difficult decision.
I have enjoyed my ministry at Woodford and First Baptist Churches and I would like to continue in this ministry.  However, I also need to live closer to Abby and become a greater support to her.  Therefore, I would like to ask the church’s blessing to allow me to continue as your pastor but at the same time allowing our family to move closer to Abby, likely the Guelph area.
How would this work?  I would like to propose that I work three full days plus the Sunday morning services.  This would be Tuesday to Thursday most of the time, but would be adjusted when there are special services or events that needed to be taken into account.  How would this affect the congregation?  Bible studies, meetings, visitation and other events would continue on without disruption.  Pastoral emergencies on off days would result in me coming up immediately, while I have another pastor support the person or family until my arrival.  I would keep my cell phone with its present Owen Sound number and so people in the congregation could get a hold of me without having to pay long distance.  I am aware of the weather challenges with regard to making it for Sunday services.  I will watch the weather closely and will come up earlier on occasion if needed.  I would work closely with the deacons’ board regarding accountability and any issues that arise due to this change.  I will meet with the deacons’ boards of both churches at six months to assess how the plan is working.  I would like to make clear that this is not a transition from full-time to part-time.  I would continue to work forty hours, it would now be compressed into three days plus a Sunday.  This plan will start, pending your approval, once our Meaford home is sold and we have moved to our new location.
I understand that this is a big change and I would not ask unless I believed that my daughter’s well being depended on it.  However, since this is such a change, I have agreed with the deacons to commit for one year.  At the end of that year, if you or myself discover that this arrangement is not working, I will agree to find a placement elsewhere.
Amanda and I have discussed this at great length.  We are both convinced that this is the best plan for our entire family.  Our greatest emotional strain is our distance from Abby and we know that we need to be closer.  We pray that you will sympathize with our situation and will give this proposal your consideration.


In Christ,




Steve Bedard and Family


Today both churches voted on our proposal and it passed.  What does this mean?  It is not my resignation to the churches.  I believe I can do a better job parenting Abby and be a good pastor at these churches.  What this means is that we will be putting our house in Meaford up for sale and once it sells, will look for a house in Guelph.  Then I begin a one year trial period of being a travelling pastor.  I do not intend on resigning at the end of the year, but I will seek the churches' feeling on the matter at that point.  It is an exciting but scary time for our family.  I am super excited about being closer to Abby but nervous about selling and buying houses.  However, God has been faithful and we are confident the details will work out the way they need.  Your prayers for our family are welcome.  I want to take the time to thank both churches for their support of our family.  You are awesome congregations!