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Dear Friends,
I have written many drafts of this note to you, but always words fall short of everything I would like to say. First and foremost, know that it has been my greatest joy serving you these past four years. I could not have imagined work more challenging or rewarding, worthy of my time and energy. It was gratifying to be a part of the church’s renewal and revitalization. I hoped that I would get to see the harvest of the seeds of change we planted together.
But 2007 was for my family a difficult year. As most of you know my husband Lee had several strokes. My daughter Rachel moved to California. Both my parents were hospitalized. All these life-changing events began to create for me a new perspective. When I least expected it, my brother-in-law Neil, also a Presbyterian minister, encouraged me to take a look at position in my hometown. This new opportunity was compelling and I applied. On October 5, the congregation of Guilford Park Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, NC called me to be their next Senior Pastor.
It has been an honor and privilege to know and serve with you and it is with immense sadness that I will do this leave-taking. But ultimately, I feel I have been true in listening for God’s call. While with you, Penny Garman taught me a Quaker saying that I hold to even now: “Proceed as the way opens.” My prayer for all of you is that you will keep doing the good work you have been doing…..proceed as the way opens…and believe that God is active among you calling someone else to take up where I must leave off.
I feel certain that if God had this surprise in store for me, God also has plans for you. Keep the faith that there will be another who will serve you with energy, intelligence, imagination and love. And, in the meantime, please reach out and care for one another, as surely Christ cares for you. “Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. (Phil. 4:9)
In Christ’s Love,
Rev. Virginia Lee Wood
