Processing the impending departure of the Schlomers

By Larry Short

As the whims of scheduling would have it, I am the lucky one who apparently drew the “short” straw to write the Last Word the week after Martin and Kim announced to the congregation their departure from Elim as of the end of this May, after 25 years of ministry.

I’m going to be very honest and vulnerable here. Martin (and his encouraging, shepherding heart) is a large part of the reason Darlene and I have “stuck with” Elim these 24 years. (We arrived about a year after he did, and were privileged to have lunch at his home and strike up a friendship the very first Sunday we attended.)

When Martin and Kim shared with the Elders last month what they were planning, while I (rationally speaking) was excited for how the Lord is working in their lives, on an emotional level, it was a punch to the gut. Let’s just say that someone had to fetch a box of tissues.

Over and over again, since then, I’ve repeated to myself what I know to be true: “This is God’s church. It’s not Martin’s church, nor does it belong to any of the rest of us. I know He has a plan for our good. We can trust Him.”

But of course, telling yourself what you (rationally speaking) know to be true, and feeling it deep within your heart, are not necessarily always the same thing.

Despite my emotional reaction to this news, I want to acknowledge some of the “positives” that I have observed since Darlene and I have been made aware of the Schlomers’ impending departure:

• Martin and Kim are excited as they approach the possibilities of their new assignment. Martin is already throwing himself quite energetically into his training, working toward his certification as a hospital chaplain. More than anyone I know, he has always had a sense of what I call “holy unrest.” What he preaches from the pulpit, he really desires to live out in his life. Two years ago, when I was laid off from my job and began driving for Uber and Lyft, and shared with him my delightful discovery of how God was using me to love and serve total strangers in my car who didn’t yet know Christ, I could tell Martin was excited about what I was experiencing. He shared his frustrations that he often, as a pastor, was unable to find sufficient opportunities to share Christ with those who are not yet disciples, despite his strong desire to do so. So this is a chance for him to put some rubber on the road, so to speak. I think he will be an awesome chaplain and am excited to hear what God does.
• This is clearly an opportunity for the Elders to pull together and do what we are called to do, to shepherd God’s church. More than once recently, we have heard it said among us: “We have been anointed for just such a time as this. In God’s economy, there are no accidents.” I’ve appreciated the way I’ve already seen the Elders dig in, pray, process their feelings and their questions, seek wise counsel, and carefully consider what the future may bring. This is not easy, but it is what God calls us to do. Our prayer is that we will be united in love, so that the devil might not have an opportunity to do what he would really like to do, bring this church down in disunity.
• Our district superintendent, Bruce Martin, has wisely pointed out that such transitions are often the times that God really works to “reformat” a church into the image that He desires it to be. Complacency comes way too easily.  Are we reaching people for Christ? Changing lives? Making disciples? Impacting our community through compassionate service and testimony? This really is an opportunity to rethink how we “do church.”

As I am writing this, the announcement has not yet been made to the entire congregation. We fully anticipate that a wide range of emotions and concerns will be expressed. We want you all to know that as Elders we do not (yet) have all the answers! This news has hit us, just as it is now hitting you, but just a few weeks earlier is all. It will take time for all of us to process together what this means. But please understand the following firm commitments that we as Elders have already expressed to one another:

“Our Constitution calls us as leaders to observe and enforce a very cautious and rigorous process for selecting a new senior pastor. It lays out steps for that process and we are engaging in a sequence that will take months to complete even before we are ready to solicit and receive applications for the role of senior pastor. At present, therefore, no one is being considered or will be considered for the role. We are simply not there yet.”

In short, this is a time for prayer and patience. We must get this right.

Our “next steps” right now are to:

• Prayerfully offer this entire situation to God. It is an opportunity for Him to continue to shape Elim as He desires, or even to change that shape if He so desires. Our job will be to pray and to listen, and as leaders to act once we hear from God. Therefore, our first official step will be to call a team of Elimites committed to prayer to meet face-to-face on a regular basis to bathe this entire situation in prayer. (Please contact me if you would like to be a part of the team that is forming. Our first meeting will be February 11.)
• Celebrate well the amazing contribution that Martin and Kim have made here in their 25 years of ministry (as of March 31), and to bless them as they depart/
• Ensure that Satan finds no opportunity  to divide us and bring us down. We will do this by prayerfully seeking timely truth-telling in love, and unity in the Holy Spirit; by guarding our hearts and guarding the integrity of the process. Elim is an extraordinarily healthy church, and we trust we will emerge from this challenge even more so.
• Communicate well, transparently and honestly, with a congregation that will be both grieving and celebrating and experiencing a range of emotions just as we as Elders have done in the past month as we have learned about this impending transition. We don’t yet have “all the answers” and shouldn’t feel pressured to make others think we do. We will seek to discourage undue speculation about what will happen in the future, but we will prayerfully commit to proceeding toward that future as God leads us. We must come alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ and help you all express how you are feeling at this difficult time. We must listen, without rushing to judgment.

We are here, and we want to walk through this with you, in a healthy way. Please reach out to any Elder if you have questions or concerns that you would like to process … and we will listen. Thank you, and God bless us all as we trust in Him!

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