A New Calling
In the Spring of 2019, I was very conflicted. After 23 years as the Lead Pastor of Grace Church, I lost some of my enthusiasm for my ministry. Things that were hard about ministry and that I had managed well just a few years before were taking a bigger toll on my soul. One Sunday at the last service, I had a panic attack while preaching. My assessment of why I was feeling intense anxiety was that there were too many empty seats at that service. My inner bully was on high alert in this season.
That June, I attended the Annual Conference of my denomination. It was one of the most painful and traumatizing events of my life. After 33 years of fruitful ministry with my colleagues, my spiritual tribe was irreparably divided. Lifelong friends did not talk but rather shouted at one another. My ministry, which at one time had been heralded, was demonized. Sharp lines were drawn, and division was on the horizon. I was left wondering and wandering.
Just a few days after the closing of that gathering, I was on a plane with my wife, Cheryl, four clergywomen, and their husbands from our Annual Conference to lead a ten-day spiritual pilgrimage. Our journey would involve retracing the life and ministry of John Wesley, our spiritual father. From the hamlet of Epworth, home of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, where they raised their ten children, we would travel to Oxford, where John and Charles were trained for the Anglican ministry. A stop off in Bristol where Mr. Wesley observed George Whitfield’s “vile” field preaching was followed by an extended time in London visiting the “holy sites of Methodist” in the capital city.
In previous trips, I had planned our journey to include attending the last of four Sunday morning worship experiences at Holy Trinity Brompton, a remarkable Anglican Church in the heart of London and home to Alpha International, the amazing evangelism and discipleship tool. On Sunday, June 16, 2019, our little Florida troupe was ushered to the front row on the left-hand side of the historic church, and we sat down in anticipation of an hour and a half of worship of our good and great God. Little did I know, but God was getting ready to rock my world.
After several worship songs, we sat for a few announcements before the sermon. A young pastor stood, and after sharing a few ministry opportunities for the people of Holy Trinity, he stopped and kindly and gently said something like, “The Lord has given me a word for a pastor who is here. You are struggling in your ministry, and when things are good, you feel good about yourself, and when things are bad, you feel bad about yourself. I’d like to pray for you tonight.” I felt a twinge in my gut. I had traveled 4500 miles to a church where no one knew me or my circumstances, and God had found me.
A thoughtful message was followed by holy communion. As the service was ending, the leaders led us into a time of extended worship with the opportunity for personal prayer with their prayer teams. The young pastor who had given the prophetic word earlier in the service stood about fifteen feet from me. I knew I had to get to him to pray. I was slightly conflicted because I was leading our little group and worried about how it would appear to my colleagues. That’s how wounded my soul was.
As the first song began, a woman quickly approached the pastor, and I thought, “I’m off the hook.” The faithful shepherd carefully listened and prayed for the woman throughout the song. The worship team segued into a second song, and the woman embraced the pastor and returned to her seat. I leaned forward to begin walking to him, and a second person, this time a man, approached the pastor for prayer. “Well, God?” I whispered. The gentle pastor again listened intently and prayed for the man as the second song ended. As I stood in the front row, I thought, “There was no way they’ll do a third song,” but sure enough, the band began a third song as the man returned to his seat.
It was as if there was a light from heaven on the pastor who stood just fifteen feet away from me. I swallowed hard and took that first step toward the light. My inner critic was raging. It felt like a walk of shame. But within seconds, I was standing before the young pastor. I introduced myself and told him I thought I was the pastor he mentioned earlier. As he did with the previous two people, he listened intently as I shared some of my anxiety about our empty chairs and denominational dysfunctions. He gently placed his hand on my heart and prayed a simple prayer of comfort and release in his beautiful British accent. I quietly wept as the Spirit of comfort and healing flooded my soul. Then he stopped and said, “Jorge, I believe the Lord is giving me a word for you.” My mind shouted, “Bring it on!” I nodded, and he said, “The Lord is telling me that in the next season of ministry, you will see a harvest of next-generation leaders beyond your imagination.” My weeping turned to sobbing. It was as if he were reading what God had written deep in my soul. After a brief pause, the pastor said, “I believe the Lord wants to tell you something else.” At this point, this guy was two for two. “Bring it on,” I thought to myself. Then he said, “The Lord wants you to write books on practical theology for everyday people.” The tears continued to flow. How did this pastor, 4500 miles from my home, know I had already written five books? He didn’t, but God did. I thanked the pastor for his prayer and prophetic words. We embraced, and I returned to my seat into Cheryl’s warm embrace. “Are you okay,” she asked. “I’ll tell you later.” That evening at the hotel, I shared the entire story with her and told her, “I think my time at Grace Church is drawing to a close.” God had given me a new calling.
That summer, Cheryl and I processed all of this and concluded that God was asking us to take this step of faith. I love Grace Church, so I knew that after 23 years of loving and leading the church, I couldn’t just write a letter of resignation and leave. We needed a careful and thoughtful plan of handing off leadership to whomever God wanted to be the new Lead Pastor. In my mind, the obvious choice of my successor would be Wes Olds, whom I had mentored and served with at three churches over 35 years. When he and I met, I shared my Holy Trinity story and asked him if he felt a calling to be the next Lead Pastor. To my surprise and delight, Wes said he wasn't sure. He’d have to pray about it. Upon returning from three weeks of vacation, he told me that he and Becky had prayed and talked, and he felt God’s release to pursue our local church and judicatory leader’s confirmation of his calling to this new role.
Four years have passed since that night in June in London. Wes and I have worked carefully on a deliberate and thoughtful succession plan. It has gone better than we could have imagined. Over this time, God has confirmed again and again that this is my new assignment. It has crystallized down to three kinds of work. I will coach leaders, write books and blogs and make myself available to preach and speak at churches and conferences. This is my new calling. You can learn more about it at www.jorgeacevedo.com. The journey continues.
Because of Jesus,
Jorge
September 1, 2023