Sometimes churches are in unique situations that should be normal situations. The leadership situation in our church is unique. We live in an age, that many agree, is one of apostasy, many turning from and away from the faith. The days are darker. In the midst of this, we have many strong men in our church and spiritual leaders, who fulfill the qualifications of the pastor and desire the office of the bishop. A majority of churches do not train a replacement to their pastor and most do not reproduce themselves. Our church is at a time where we can see both of those occur: replacement and reproduction. It isn’t easy. Blessed be the tie that bands. It’s nice that a tie binds. A multitude of churches send away their pastor. The average lifespan of a pastor is something like 3 years. I’ve been pastor here 33 years. Another pastor is different. Everyone is different. We should be happy that we don’t have rubber stamped men here, who do the preaching. They have similarities that are good, but their differences are also good. They are not trying to be someone different than who they are. This is a significant time for us. It’s like the church in Jerusalem in Acts 8. They needed to reproduce and God intervened to see that occur. Would it have happened so quickly without it? No. But God wants reproduction. We are not only getting a replacement, but we are reproducing. Everyone should get behind this. Show your support. Help the transition. At the same time, we’re sending out our first missionary. The church needs this.