Thank You, Chapel Hill!
By Pastor Mark Toone
Senior Pastor
I will never forget this week. Exhilarating, exhausting, and profoundly humbling. Last Sunday’s worship service on August 25 was incredible. Our Sanctuary seats 1,400 people. We had 2,348 gathered in every nook and cranny throughout the building. And oh, did you sing as we were led in wonderful worship! It meant so much to have all my pastoral partners involved in the service. And to have my daughter Rachel join in the moment…with an incredible gift from the Billy Graham Association…wow! To walk in and see those of you who traveled many miles to join Cyndi and me in this moment…as well as representatives from local churches, not to mention all of the Chapel Hillbillies who packed the place out…well, as you saw, I couldn’t hold back the tears.
And then…Wednesday! What a party Sheila, Sandy, and her incredible team threw for us! And what a fun celebration we shared afterwards, a sweet and wonderful combination of roast and fete. What an honor to hear from my denominational friends who traveled across the country to join us. What a privilege to hear from my younger colleagues as they spoke so sweetly (although at times, a little naughtily!) about our journey together. What a blessing to hear from my son, whose words I will always treasure…and my sweet wife, who hates public speaking but who, I think, knocked it out of the park! What an honor to have our Elders name the Gathering Place after Cyndi and me. And what an overwhelmingly generous moment when you presented us with your farewell gift! I’m gobsmacked! (That’s for Pastor Ellis 😊) Cyndi was making our Scotland/Ireland golf plans on the way home! Thank you, thank you, thank you.
There are a handful of moments that have marked my life indelibly: our wedding…the birth of our children…my ordination in 1982…my installation to this calling in 1987. Well, this week of festivities joins that slim and extraordinary list. It shouldn’t surprise me that my Sweetheart Church would say such a good goodbye. (My pastor friends were blown away; I’m afraid you’ve set an impossibly high bar for their churches when THEY retire 😊) But wow, was it special. I love you, I am grateful for the privilege of serving you all these years and I will never forget you! Thank you.
NOW…enough of that! We’ve done a great job of looking backwards. It’s time to turn our eyes forward. This Sunday at 10:00 am will be one of the most important moments in the history of Chapel Hill as we install our new Senior Pastor, Ellis White. It will be one grand service for the entire church family. We will be led in this act of worship by dignitaries from our presbytery.
And I hope…and pray…that you will pack this place out two weeks in a row as you celebrate the call of your new Pastor.
It isn’t often, especially in our Presbyterian tradition, that a church has the opportunity to get to know their new leader before calling him. But in God’s grace, he brought Ellis and Rachel to us 13 years ago. Ellis understands us, loves us, and has already worked to shape us. In fact, his sense of call here is so strong that he and Rachel became American citizens! It is a measure of the confidence I know you have in his leadership that he received an enthusiastic, unanimous vote to be your next Senior Pastor.
You don’t need my approval, nor does Ellis. But for what it’s worth, I began to wonder 12 years ago if he might not be God’s next man for this job. The ensuing years have only convinced me of that. I could not be more enthused about your choice, nor more excited about the great future that lies ahead. And just think…you’ll have the opportunity to be part of this history-making kick-off.
I hope you will! Sunday, 10:00 am, one service, the installation of our new Senior Pastor, the Reverend Ellis White. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Pastor Mark