A Letter from Pastor Tito
Dear Friends,
I am writing this letter to you today with a heavy heart. For seven years, I’ve referred to you as “dear friends,” but you’ve been more than that to me—you’ve been family. Serving as your pastor and being part of your lives has been one of the great privileges of my life. That’s what makes this moment so difficult. I am writing to let you know that I will be leaving Woodland in July.
This has been an extremely difficult decision for us to make. For the past seven years, Woodland has loved us so well. Our girls have grown up in a wonderfully nurturing environment, Danielle and I have made lifelong friends, and I have had the opportunity to serve in all the ways God has called me to serve—primarily by preaching and ministering at Woodland to equip you for the callings God has on your lives, but also by teaching and training future generations of ministers.
Throughout my years of ministry, I have often thought of the experience of Paul in the 16th chapter of Acts. Even though he had originally intended to go in a different direction, Paul had a vision one night of a man from Macedonia who said to him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Paul went where he had previously had no intention of going, and that’s how the gospel spread to Europe.
I have told many of you over the years that I have never had any intention of being anywhere other than Woodland. During my time at Woodland, I have been glad to answer calls for support from other churches and ministers throughout North Carolina and Latin America, but I have also been so glad to be able to come back home to Woodland each time. That has always been my plan from the time that I first came here.
Recently, however, I received a different kind of call for help. Over the last two years, I have occasionally interacted with a team of 5 ministers at the Lilly Endowment. Their mission is to help equip the Church all across the United States. They work with all denominations and people groups by helping individuals discover a call to ministry, supporting pastors in living out their calling, and assisting congregations, denominations and seminaries as they adapt to a changing world. This is incredibly important work, especially as the circumstances of the last few months have placed even more pressure on congregations and people of faith across the country.
In light of these many challenges, the team at the Lilly Endowment has asked me for help to extend their work, especially among Baptist and Hispanic congregations. This would require a relocation for our family to Indianapolis—which means that I could no longer be directly involved in the incredibly important work that takes place at and through Woodland on a regular basis.
And that is heartbreaking to me, because I have given you all my heart over the last seven years and you have given me yours as well. One of my favorite verses in scripture is I Thessalonians 2:8. Paul writes:
“We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well because you had become so dear to us.”
I have never been part of a congregation that embodies that verse as well as Woodland does. We have shared the gospel and our lives, and you are dear to me.
When I first received this call, I really struggled over the possibility that my time at Woodland would end because I didn’t want to leave you. Together, we have prayed and worked so hard to help make Woodland what it is. And I still don’t want to leave you, but I believe that this is what God is calling me to do.
Woodland is thriving in ways few of us could have imagined back in 2013, but the Church in America is in crisis. There are so many communities that are not hearing the gospel or experiencing the love of God. There are so many churches in need of capable and faithful ministers. Our country and our world need the Church to be a voice for truth and grace and reconciliation. And if I can help in some small way with any of those things, then I have to try.
My last Sunday at Woodland will be July 5th, but that won’t be the last time I see you. I promise that I will come again to see you when social distancing is over and we can all hug each other again. And I promise that I will continue to love you and to pray for you individually and corporately as you continue living out the calling that God has for you.
Over the next few weeks, you will hear from the deacons about a plan for the coming transition, but I want you to know that I firmly believe that Woodland will continue to be Woodland. We are blessed with a deeply faithful and capable staff who will continue to serve and lead very well in the days ahead. We have deacons who know how to care for the families of the church, volunteers who serve so well in so many ways, and members who love Christ and are willing to give of themselves and of their resources to see His kingdom come.
I believe that Woodlanders will continue to love each other in a way that will make others continue to desire to make Woodland home. I trust that Woodlanders will continue to serve in ways that expand and impact the kingdom of God. And I believe that Woodlanders will continue to keep their eyes on God and to trust that “He who began the good work” we have experienced over the last seven years together “will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Thank you for loving me and my family and for allowing us to love you as well.
“Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Grace and peace,
Pastor Tito
I am writing this letter to you today with a heavy heart. For seven years, I’ve referred to you as “dear friends,” but you’ve been more than that to me—you’ve been family. Serving as your pastor and being part of your lives has been one of the great privileges of my life. That’s what makes this moment so difficult. I am writing to let you know that I will be leaving Woodland in July.
This has been an extremely difficult decision for us to make. For the past seven years, Woodland has loved us so well. Our girls have grown up in a wonderfully nurturing environment, Danielle and I have made lifelong friends, and I have had the opportunity to serve in all the ways God has called me to serve—primarily by preaching and ministering at Woodland to equip you for the callings God has on your lives, but also by teaching and training future generations of ministers.
Throughout my years of ministry, I have often thought of the experience of Paul in the 16th chapter of Acts. Even though he had originally intended to go in a different direction, Paul had a vision one night of a man from Macedonia who said to him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Paul went where he had previously had no intention of going, and that’s how the gospel spread to Europe.
I have told many of you over the years that I have never had any intention of being anywhere other than Woodland. During my time at Woodland, I have been glad to answer calls for support from other churches and ministers throughout North Carolina and Latin America, but I have also been so glad to be able to come back home to Woodland each time. That has always been my plan from the time that I first came here.
Recently, however, I received a different kind of call for help. Over the last two years, I have occasionally interacted with a team of 5 ministers at the Lilly Endowment. Their mission is to help equip the Church all across the United States. They work with all denominations and people groups by helping individuals discover a call to ministry, supporting pastors in living out their calling, and assisting congregations, denominations and seminaries as they adapt to a changing world. This is incredibly important work, especially as the circumstances of the last few months have placed even more pressure on congregations and people of faith across the country.
In light of these many challenges, the team at the Lilly Endowment has asked me for help to extend their work, especially among Baptist and Hispanic congregations. This would require a relocation for our family to Indianapolis—which means that I could no longer be directly involved in the incredibly important work that takes place at and through Woodland on a regular basis.
And that is heartbreaking to me, because I have given you all my heart over the last seven years and you have given me yours as well. One of my favorite verses in scripture is I Thessalonians 2:8. Paul writes:
“We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well because you had become so dear to us.”
I have never been part of a congregation that embodies that verse as well as Woodland does. We have shared the gospel and our lives, and you are dear to me.
When I first received this call, I really struggled over the possibility that my time at Woodland would end because I didn’t want to leave you. Together, we have prayed and worked so hard to help make Woodland what it is. And I still don’t want to leave you, but I believe that this is what God is calling me to do.
Woodland is thriving in ways few of us could have imagined back in 2013, but the Church in America is in crisis. There are so many communities that are not hearing the gospel or experiencing the love of God. There are so many churches in need of capable and faithful ministers. Our country and our world need the Church to be a voice for truth and grace and reconciliation. And if I can help in some small way with any of those things, then I have to try.
My last Sunday at Woodland will be July 5th, but that won’t be the last time I see you. I promise that I will come again to see you when social distancing is over and we can all hug each other again. And I promise that I will continue to love you and to pray for you individually and corporately as you continue living out the calling that God has for you.
Over the next few weeks, you will hear from the deacons about a plan for the coming transition, but I want you to know that I firmly believe that Woodland will continue to be Woodland. We are blessed with a deeply faithful and capable staff who will continue to serve and lead very well in the days ahead. We have deacons who know how to care for the families of the church, volunteers who serve so well in so many ways, and members who love Christ and are willing to give of themselves and of their resources to see His kingdom come.
I believe that Woodlanders will continue to love each other in a way that will make others continue to desire to make Woodland home. I trust that Woodlanders will continue to serve in ways that expand and impact the kingdom of God. And I believe that Woodlanders will continue to keep their eyes on God and to trust that “He who began the good work” we have experienced over the last seven years together “will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Thank you for loving me and my family and for allowing us to love you as well.
“Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Grace and peace,
Pastor Tito