A Letter from Pastor Gene

This isn’t a letter I’m excited to write. Not because of the content, but mostly because of what it represents: the end. After seven of the most amazing years of ministry, it’s time for us to say so long. As we’ve now known for some time, Bishop Bickerton is sending me to Jesse Lee Memorial in Ridgefield and DH Choi to SUM. What once seemed so far away is now a reality with the Otts packing boxes and moving on the 26th. So, it’s also a perfect time to let you know a few things that I have been sitting on for seven years.

If you were with us on Sunday, you heard me talk about appointments. They are sort of an arranged marriage, and most of the time they work just fine. Occasionally, though they do not, and this time, seven years ago, I was packing boxes to leave an appointment that was not a good fit. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, but it simply hadn’t played out well. They knew it. We knew it. Those experiences over the five years I was there led to more soul-searching, worrying, and wondering than I have ever done professionally in my life. As I packed, I just wasn’t sure I was cut out to be a pastor. Was I washed up? Could I hack it? Further, I was worried about replacing a beloved pastor in Woody, being so much younger than him, and bringing a young family along with me. My wife was leaving her job…again, and the last time a church had expressed excitement about their pastor having kids, they quickly took a dimmer view when I chose them first. And so, our time started. This was always bubbling below the surface, and I had pledged to give this whole Simsbury experience one year to pan out.

How ridiculous that all looks now in the rear-view mirror. You, as a congregation and a community, so far exceeded my/our expectations for what was possible. You’ve loved us, reassured us, worked with us, cried with us, laughed with us and done some (if I do say so myself) damned fine work with us. Thank you. Those two words seem so inadequate, and yet there aren’t any better ones. Thank you for being willing to take this journey with us. Thank you for being willing to have hard conversations. Thank you for always having our backs. Thank you for being you. You, as a community, are amazing and contain everything needed to continue to be a place of space, grace, and love in this wider community. You are a blessing.

And so, I ask one more thing of you: afford DH and his family the same opportunities. As I noted in my sermon, because of you, SUM is known as a church that has set the standard for Elder/Deacon working relationships. The Bishop noted that as he was preparing to retire Deacon Deb. In a few years, nothing would make me happier than hearing that SUM has once again set the standard by truly making a cross-cultural/cross-racial appointment work. I know you can do this, and I look forward to rooting for you.

It's been amazing, and we look forward to seeing you, “On the Journey.”

~The Otts