| God's peace, Church, On July 3, after a conversation with session leadership, I announced, from the pulpit, my plan to step aside as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn. I will preach my final sermon on August 21st and offer my letter of resignation in a congregational meeting called immediately following worship. After the vote, I intend to conclude my 6+ years of service to First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn on September 11th. Some of you may believe that my departure is being made in response to a particular situation. Please know, church, that is untrue. I came to First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn believing I would retire from First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn. As you know, when we make plans, God laughs! Over the past year, I have been discerning, with my family, the next faithful step for me in ministry. Asking God, in this season, how I can most faithfully serve, has been my constant prayer. As part of my discernment process, I entered a ministerial search at the start of the year that concluded on July 17, when I was voted in as the eighth senior minister of the Riverside Church in NY — the first African American woman to lead this historic congregation. I had other plans. God laughed. I believe that my season of ministry at First Church Brooklyn has come to an end and that God is preparing the next pastor to lead the church into God's preferred future. I also believe that we together have done what God intended us to do. I will never give up on the idea that God is ushering in a bold, creative, fresh, just, and enlivened future on Henry Street and beyond, and my prayer is that each of you will continue playing your part in making it real. Church, my ordination vows call me and every church elder to serve with "energy, intelligence, imagination, and love." Thank you for trusting me and your church elders to do just that over these many years. I am grateful for God's good news story that we and the Holy Spirit have been telling the world… - The US Attorney General and the Borough President visited worship.
- Our choir was voted one of the top ten in NYC.
- We bid farewell to staff and welcomed new staff.
- We celebrated marriages and one 50-year wedding anniversary. We welcomed new members and baptized babies…so many babies!
- We dove deeply into issues that we cared about: race, gender, police violence, gun violence, health care, climate change, education, poverty, immigration, trans justice, the political and judicial arenas, the church past, present, and future, and so much more.
- We began attending the Brooklyn Pride Parade and now it is an annual event.
- We worshipped in person and in the multi access space in ways that shored up our sometimes-tottering faith. Will we ever forget those flower petals and the beautiful spectacle of putting them back together?!
- We grieved the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and too many others, and we did the difficult, messy, and life-giving work of gathering in racial affinity groups to weep, rage, support one another, grow, and pray.
- We gathered for the home goings of church members and family members.
- We followed the creative lead of our youth and supported the Children's March for Black Lives.
- We created a welcoming path for Collect8 dancers to take their place at the table of this 200-year-old church community and they are infusing new life in our shared life.
- We laughed and cried and found joy in shared ministry.
- Multi access worship allowed us to see members we thought we'd never see again.
- We held virtual sermon talkbacks, hymn sings, retreats, and young adult fellowship hours. We interviewed all eight City Council candidates and worked with Darryahn Knight and our neighborhood to launch the Brooklyn Heights Community Fridge.
- We closed the church building and moved worship online. We tried new ways of being and held one another, at a sacred distance, during change after change after change.
- New leaders emerged. Seasoned leaders stepped up. We had our biggest financial offering during Covid and continued to welcome new members. The pandemic, with its lock down invited us to reimagine and redefine ourselves and what was possible, and we did it!
- We were awarded a Calvin Grant to continue dreaming about worship that forms community. We hired Chris Neuner as technical director, grew our technical internship program, shared wisdom, and helped other churches stay alive.
- We became a new church, and we will never be the same again.
As the news of change settles into your spirit, you will likely feel many of the feelings that come when pastors move on: sorrow, anger, disappointment, surprise, regret, relief, confusion, and/or excitement. I hope that you will take the time you need to feel what you need to feel, and then I hope you will hold hands and prayerfully figure out the next most faithful step…and the next…and the next. I am coordinating worship leadership through early September at which time, Conor Foley, our summer Outreach Minister, will work with our church administrator, the Worship Committee, and staff to coordinate worship until the transitional pastor is in place. My final sermon will be August 21, 2022. My final day as pastor will be September 11, 2022, and I will depart the manse by September 30, 2022. As summer turns to fall and the work before you seems daunting, it may be tempting to point fingers, to throw up your hands and walk away, to pout and talk about the good old days until the next pastor arrives. Don't do that. Instead, tell good news stories. Remind one another of the vibrancy of the past, but please don't get stuck in the past. Tell our stories the way we share our biblical narrative — as food for the journey. Feast on 200 years of our living faith so that you can keep moving into the next 200 years. God is not standing still, and neither should you. Walk together, children. Don't you get weary. Ask God to keep your minds open and your hearts soft. Pray. Pray for one another, for visitors, for neighbors, and all those outside the walls of the sanctuary who will find their way to Henry Street — those who will call you siblings in Christ and First Church Brooklyn home. You have the support of the Presbytery of NY, the Session, the best church staff in the city, and one another. You also have my prayers. Be kind. Be gentle. Life still aches for far too many of us and we are not well. Be kind. I trust the affection you have built in and among yourselves over the years will see you through. May God grant you a double portion of affection in this season. This transition is bittersweet for me, church, but I am also eager to see what our creator God will make in partnership with us. I hope we will all be made new. Eyes haven't seen, ears haven't heard, the kind of blessing that's about to fall on us. Thank you for allowing me to serve alongside you for the time that was ours. It's been a gift to grow and become with you. You are loved, 
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