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Dear Church Family, As you have heard by now, we are going to have a pastoral change in June. This appointment process is the United Methodist way, and I trust that God will use this transition for good, both in the life of our congregation and in my continuing ministry. As a United Methodist pastor, I am part of the itinerant appointment system, and I fully accept, respect and affirm this method of deploying clergy. When I became a United Methodist clergy person, I took an oath to go and serve where I am sent by the Bishop. I will honor that promise with a grateful heart for the privilege of serving at BUMC, with an optimistic heart about my next appointment, and with full confidence in the future of BUMC. I want to thank all of you who have sent messages of support to me over the past couple of days. Your overwhelming expressions of appreciation have deeply moved me. I know many of you have questions and concerns about this transition. Our Staff Parish Chair and Lay Leader will be sharing more information about this in the days to come. And, our new Bishop will be preaching at all three Sunday services on February 24th. I hope you will be here to meet him on that important day. If you want to contact one of our church leaders about this transition, you can email Susan Graham, our Lay Leader, at churchcouncil@bumc.net. It has been my privilege to be in ministry with you. Our time together resulted in some encouraging and positive progress. A few examples follow.