[This announcement was read on Sunday, November 27th @ OCC // Sorry for the long post in advance:]
Wow. What a difference 3 years makes. From the hardest decision we have ever faced to leave our family, friends and amazing church family in Ohio to move to Utah to plant a church! From our first outreach event where 0 [that is a zero] people came, to our 2nd event [where 1 person came:]…to seeing just under 200 people at our biggest service this year, God has been doing some amazing things here at OCC and in our lives! And we owe a debt of gratitude to YOU!
Just as we were shocked, scared, sad and a bit disoriented when we felt the call of God to transition to the next season in our lives from New Hope in Ohio to Utah, we feel the same feelings as we announce that God is again calling our family to a new season of ministry. With this, there always comes a ton of questions, and for those who know us deeply, you understand that we are upfront and honest with our personal lives as we feel it is the only way to truly live life. “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free!” [John 8.32]
First, we want to THANK YOU each of you who have sacrificially given of your time, talent, treasure, prayer and other support to the calling of God to plant a church where many people have tried, and few have seen the vision realized. Without you, One Community Church would not be what it is today and without you, we would not see a church that is doing some amazing things in this area started and continue on! We needed you to start this work, and our family will continue to need to sense your love and support as we are obedient to what God is asking Tiffany, myself and the 3 blessings in our life: Christian, Grace and Joi.
1) What is happening at One Community Church? The church is going great! As a matter of fact, out of the churches launched in Utah, we are TRIPLE the size of other churches launched in 2011, and DOUBLE the size of churches launched in 2009 and 2010! We praise God for HIS favor, especially being called to a very tough spiritual area. We owe this to the grace of God, your support and a great, great team that we have around us here at OCC. Our attendance is up, volunteers are up, giving is up, and we have some great people joining our team as of late and in the near future! Our core people at OCC have been notified and our talks with them have been great. They have all graciously understood the calling here, and the calling to a new season wherever God leads.
We also have a great pastor and friend who helped us launch OCC in Pastor Tony and Shanda Simoncini and their family. Tony has been sharing the leadership load with me the past 3 months as we have prayed through this potential transition. He has been called with his family to Utah for a time such as this, and we know that God will lead greatly in this as our church has grown to love he and his family! Tony and Shanda completed church planting assessment and passed with high marks as being ready to lead this church! He has been preaching often and is more than ready in my opinion to take the lead role. Please pray for Tony and his family as they transition into this role. They will be the official Lead Pastor and Wife and this will be their calling. It will not be an interim role as they are called, gifted and confirmed as the next leaders of OCC and I want to be the first to welcome them as your new Pastor and Pastor’s Wife.
2) Why are we transitioning? About 3 months ago, it became apparent to Tiffany and I that the past 3 years have taken a much larger toll on us and our family than we anticipated. There are some personal reasons and some wounds that have occurred over the past 3 years [and even before] that have caused us to reflect on where and what we are called to do in ministry.
There is NOTHING juicy, NOTHING sinful, NOTHING crazy. If there were, we would list the reasons because you can’t keep gossip like that from flying around. Our marriage truly is stronger than ever. Our family is stronger than ever. There are some things that we both have come to terms with in knowing who we are as a couple, as a family and what we feel God is asking us to do in this next season of ministry.
Tiffany came to me to share that the depression she has battled off and on for 18 years had grown much worse. I also had been sensing a deep and growing sadness in my life and a lack of passion that I am not accustomed to. I talked at length with some trusted pastors, friends and our Management Team asked Tiffany and I to pray for a couple of months about whether God was leading us into a different season and calling due to these reasons that were appearing in our lives. God uses a variety of things to rattle and shake us, and they are not always “good and pleasant” things!
We had already had a 1 week intensive counseling session scheduled outside Denver, Colorado [talking about it for 2+ years and finally got to go!], for us to listen to God and to listen to the counselor who has extensive experience in ministry as for the next steps we had in ministry. This counseling was to explore ourselves as individuals, to seek to become as healthy as possible in Christ and to seek out what future ministry may hold. Blessing Ranch is a place that I encourage every Pastor/Couple to attend and I challenge each of you to seek out counseling before there is a big reason to whether you are in ministry or not! It was a life-changing experience for us and a very healthy look at our souls in-depth.
The Doctor who was our counselor was able to point out some amazing things in our personal lives that we needed to work through and how that might impact future ministry. Tiffany was struggling with depression and the Doctor said that I was as well [a shock to all who know me]. It was apparent after conversations and prayer [thanks Mom!] and thanks to all of you who confidentially led us through this difficult time, that God was actually calling us away to a new season in life and ministry as the Lord leads.
We were called to start this work in Utah, to see it to a healthy place [as healthy as a church plant can be!] and then to release it to capable hands. We are not abandoning ship, there are no internal issues, no other reason other than GOD knows what is best, and obeying HIS call is our first priority. We LOVE the people of OCC. We have so many dear friends and relationships that have formed and we love this state! It has been an amazing few years as we sought out to plant a church in a place we had never stepped foot in! This is why this transition is so difficult. WE LOVE THE PEOPLE OF OCC! [Did you catch that?]. But we also have to listen to the Lord and my first priority as pastor is to shepherd my family.
3) Where are we going? My sister Sarah [thanks lil' sis :], located a rental house for us to live in located in Hilliard, Ohio where we lived for a time when I was a Police Officer in Columbus, Ohio and where our son Christian was born. I will be looking for a secular job more than likely when we land in the Columbus area and would appreciate your prayers as we seek what God has for us next in life, our family and ministry as the Lord leads and opens up opportunities in His timing and as He leads.
As most of you know, we are totally open to the call of God in our lives and are willing to go ANYWHERE HE LEADS! But with the wise counsel, some super-natural experiences and the counsel of Dr. Walker, we are confident that God is calling us back to Ohio for some reason! We know we cannot be back in the area where we planted New Hope, but that our passion for Ohio has not left us. We need to put our family first and the calling that is down deep in our hearts. It is with this end that we said, “OK God…if it is Ohio, then why not move us to the middle of the state and we will wait for your call!” So that is what we are doing.
I do not have a job, we do not have any firm plans. Again, we just got a house rented 1 week ago! We are just trusting that God wants us to be in a healthy place, as many tears have been shed for the love of the people here at OCC, we are also excited that God has a plan and that we are ready for the next steps that He is calling us to, whatever that might be!
4) Can YOU help in any way? Never thought you would ask! Of course you can. We need your love, support and prayers! Ministry and leadership can be terribly lonely, so your words, prayers and actions of support are greatly welcome! Pray that God would continue to bring healing to our souls, and our family during this transition. Pray for our kids as they adjust to a new school and a new set of friends. Pray for OCC and the leadership here as they work through this transition. Pray that those who feel led to continue to support OCC [there are still a ton of cities without 1 church out here!!!!] as the church plant is still not at the point of being fully self-sustaining. Would you consider continuing to support the work God called us here to begin?
Most of all, your love and prayers will go a long way in helping us continue in the work of expanding the kingdom. With the uncertainty of what lies ahead, we ask you to join us in the work of our Lord to help us land back on our feet strongly, and thank you in advance for your love, prayer, and support!
5) Are you coming back to the Loudonville area? We would love that of course! Our family and friends are there and a church we dearly, dearly love, but that is not something that we feel we could do in any way. So for those who have already asked…we would not do that:) Pastor Rob and Bethany Patterson have been called to continue the work at New Hope and our other amazing pastors at the campuses we started are doing a great job, and we would not seek to disrupt that work! I have appreciated Pastor Rob’s love, his counsel and his friendship as we have talked about the transition God is calling us to. We also appreciate the love and continued support from our New Hope and OCC families!
THANK YOU for making One Community Church a reality, and THANK YOU for understanding and supporting the next call in our lives! Being called to be a starter is not a bad thing, though many might never understand it, this is certainly something that we were called to, and we revel and relish this calling! It is now time to see what God has next and are beyond excited about what God will be doing here at OCC and in each of your lives as you trust in Him! THIS IS GOD’S CHURCH and God’s Word says: “I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH and the GATES OF HELL WILL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT!” [Matthew 16.18] and also “Trust in the Lord with ALL YOUR HEART, and do not lean on what YOU THINK IS BEST. In ALL YOUR WAYS acknowledge HIM, and HE WILL DIRECT YOUR PATHS.” [Proverbs 3.5-6]…and we believe every word of this! This church doesn’t revolve around a pastor, leader or groups of families. This is HIS CHURCH and HE ALWAYS WINS! We trust that with all our soul, might and strength.
Thank you again to our friends, family, Stadia Church Planting, ICPA, The River Conference, Potential Church in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, The Crossing Church in Quincy, IL [our 5 major partners], and many other personal and church support [you are all MAJOR TOO and you know who you are!] that have provided support, funding, prayer and your love as God has called us here to Utah.
And we thank you in advance for your support in helping us seek out the Lord in relocation and in the days ahead. We could not have done this without YOU and we can’t live out the next phase without YOU either! Below is our contact information. Feel free to contact Tiffany or I anytime. We would love to hear from you and it would be a blessing to sense your love and support at this point. Leadership can be a lonely place at times:)
Partners in Expanding the Kingdom,
Charles and Tiffany Hill and Family
**Charles: chazzdaddy17@gmail.com // **Tiffany: stayayhomemom76@gmail.com