Church Announcement
The below statement was read out to the church family after the Worship service on Sunday 3rd of October. We share this announcement publicly so that God would be glorified in our aim to be open with information and in our prayers for Pastor Ross and his family.
__
In agreement with the church leadership team, I have a prepared statement to read out. Each adult here today will be given a printed copy as you leave, it was also be emailed to all connected with LBC and finally it will be made available on the church website in due course. Please permit me some of your time to read this statement as we give you some of the backstory leading up to the events of today.
In 2013, the Lord called our family into full time ministry. At that time, I sought advice from trusted individuals who were already serving as Pastor’s and Missionaries. All said the same thing, get some training, take some time to study and then go where God sends. Looking back, Miriam and I realise now that our response was one of a lack of faith. How could we study when we had a child, and another two on the way? We didn’t believe it possible, and so pursued a pastor in training position instead. My aim was to learn on the job, and maybe one day take a class or two.
Over the last 8 years, there has been many opportunities to study, in fact, I was able to complete a certificate in Theology via Spurgeon’s College Online. However, if I am honest, I found managing studies, family life and being a Pastor difficult, leading to studies becoming one of those things that I only picked up every so often.
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, like many of us, I had a lot of time to think and to pray. Throughout this period, I had a constant conviction – I need to delve deeper into the Word of God. I shared this conviction with the Church Leadership Team in the latter months of 2020. In response the leadership encouraged me to pursue my options and see what is available to someone in my position.
Our research, through considering multiple courses and seeking advice from others, led us to consider degrees at master’s level. We selected what we felt was the best option, and with encouragement from the leadership brought it to church members at a members meeting in March of this year.
It is fair to say the meeting did not go as we hoped. However, from a difficult meeting came a divine blessing, God gave me clarity. God led me to 2 Timothy 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” I pondered, what does it mean to present myself approved? What does it mean to rightly handle the Word of Truth? As I asked these questions, I was taken back to the wise words I heard in 2013 – take some time to train, to study and then go where God sends. I knew, even amongst all the discussion of that members meeting, that it was time to take seriously the need to study the Word of God.
Miriam and I agreed that we would push each door available to us. We short listed 6 colleges, reducing to 4 as we considered purely a master’s level of study. Of these 4 we applied for in-person degrees, hybrid degrees and online degrees. We prayed that God would open and close the doors. To our amazement, I was accepted to each college, and to each option of course delivery.
In recent weeks, we were drawn to the Master’s in Divinity course provided by Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary based in Kansas City, Missouri. The course stood out due to the opportunity to study Hebrew and Greek at an advanced level. I was already aware of some of the faculty from conferences I had attended in the past and knew that the quality of teaching would be significant. We prayed, and with boldness we pushed this door a little harder to see how the Lord would lead.
Studies would start in 2022, we knew we needed to secure funding. In the space of a few short weeks, family and long-term close family friends offered to cover a significant portion of the cost. We continued to pray and pushed the door further; would it be possible to gain visas to attend in person. Much preparation went into this and after a trip to London, to the US consulate, Visas were granted for our whole family. At this stage, we knew God was beginning to do something special. We prayed and we pushed the door yet further. Just a couple of days after the visa acceptance, the college got in touch to offer us accommodation to live on campus. A 3-bedroom apartment that sat near the lake, the forest, and the park, allowing students to walk on campus to their classes. At this news we were overwhelmed. God had provided 60% of the funding needed, the visas required, the accommodation and placed in our hearts a growing sense of His direction.
It was time to talk with the church leadership team, and the Pastoring the Pastor team. And so, we arranged a meeting. This meeting took place on Friday (1st October 2021). At that meeting, we explained all that God had done, and the direction we believed He was leading us. Having explained everything, through joy in knowing that God was leading, and tears in knowing what it meant for the church, I tendered my resignation as Pastor of Lincoln Baptist Church.
Details of an exact end date are still being discussed, however, as a family we will be moving to Kansas City before the end of the year, so that we can settle the girls into school, and I can begin my 4-year degree in January.
Let me take this moment to express our deepest thanks for the love and care many have shown our family over these last 3 ½ years. To those who sent encouraging verses each morning, to those who fed us and showed love to our children, to those who have wept with us and those who have leapt in joy with us. Thank you for all that you have done.
As I look over these years, I also want to take a moment and boast in our Lord, here are a few highlights of what He has done, and I count it a true privilege to have been part of it:
· We have taught through 14 books of the Bible, the most significant being our 51-part Mark series.
· We have read the Word of God together each day, soon completing our third year of daily devotions.
· We have seen the church grow numerically, but most importantly spiritually.
· The Lord touched over 250,000 people with our online church
· The Lord saved souls, challenged apathy, and encouraged the downhearted.
I thank God, that in His grace, He has done wonderful things through His church at Lincoln Baptist over these years. Two more thanks before I close with a parting encouragement. I want to thank the leadership team. It has been an honour to serve alongside each of you. Thank you to Richard for his passion for serving the Lord through Worship. Thank you to Marion, for her desire to always give God the best. Thank you to Ola, for reminding me that the Gospel is for the entire world. And thank you to Colin, my right-hand man, without him by my side I would have achieved much less. I will truly miss working with you all.
I also want to give a special thanks to Ben Mills. We have worked together almost daily for the last year. He has inspired me and watching him work in our online ministry has been a joy and a privilege. Thank you for coming at just the right moment.
What you have heard today is a story of God, patiently waiting for His servant to answer His call, and the grace of God to bless His servant with another opportunity, one that I am truly excited to grab hold off and give my all to it.
I encourage you to be Sola Scriptura (on Scripture alone) and Soli Deo Gloria (To the Glory of God alone). These principles do not end with me leaving, rather they continue to be foundational principles of the church. Remain resolute in them, do not swerve from them, and hold fast to them. Let not a single foothold be available for Satan to diminish the work here at Lincoln Baptist. If you remain faithful in this, God will bless.
Let me give the final word to God - Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and for ever. Amen.
Pastor Ross Ferguson