REV. RIGGS ANNOUNCES PLANNED DEPARTURE

Dear family and friends of Union Avenue,

The Season of Advent is always a strange mix of ending the calendar year but beginning a new church year. The story of God's love in Jesus Christ that we tell all year is rooted in this tension between endings and beginnings, and such things remind us of the good news that our God is indeed making all things new. For the Church, this is our faithful rhythm, our discipline, and our story down the generations as we keep the feast from season to season, year after year.

Much has changed for us since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic nearly three years ago. We were pushed into isolation and out of our comfort zones, but we responded with resilience and a determination to keep on being Church through the midst of difficulties unprecedented in our times. We learned how to incorporate digital ministry into our church life, and we found new ways to reach out with Christ's love. Most importantly, we did the hard work of congregational discernment regarding our identity – what we do and why we do it, what's important to us what our values are, to what missions do we feel called, what gifts we need to bring, to nurture and harvest, to discover and gain in order to do and be Church in ways faithful to our sense of calling and our service in Christ's name.

As we begin to close out 2022, it has become clear to me that we are indeed closing one chapter of our church's story and beginning a new one in response to our newfound sense of identity and mission. I have been in prayer over the past several months about what God wants us to do and be and what gifts of leadership this congregation needs, given the new horizon before us. I have felt the Spirit nudging both myself and our congregation toward different paths for some time now, and I believe that it is time for my tenure at Union Avenue to draw to a close.

On Sunday afternoon, December 4, I informed our President of the Official Board, the Rev. Dr. Frank Proctor, that I would be stepping down as the Senior Minister of Union Avenue effective January 31, 2023 and tendered to him a letter of resignation, stating that I had accepted a call from the First Christian Church of Springfield, IL to serve as their next Senior Minister beginning February 1, 2023. This wasn't an easy decision for me, as our time together has been very precious and we've accomplished much, but I do believe this decision is both a faithful one and the right one, both for myself and for this congregation. I'm excited for this opportunity to serve in Springfield, just as I have been here in St. Louis. God called me here for a season, and God is now calling me to a new place where my gifts are needed and can help another group of faithful people labor together in doing God's mission in the world.

I do feel this congregation's future is full of hopeful possibilities and faithful opportunities to embrace God's mission anew and take Union Avenue's ministry to new places if this congregation fully invests in doing God's mission in the world. Like the Apostle Paul, I have sown seeds for someone else to water and for still someone else to harvest their fruits. I feel lucky in that I've had the privilege to see some of those seeds begin to spring forth and begin to bud during my own tenure. And even though I won't be around to see it, I trust God's Spirit to bring them to blossom as you enter this next season of ministry with faith in God's abundance.

These past five years have been filled with many blessings, rewarding challenges, memorable moments, and relationships that I will always hold dear in Christ's love. I especially give thanks that there are fresh winds of the Spirit filling Union Avenue's sails with fresh hope. For the rest of my time with you, my focus will be to help make for a good and healthy transition and close out my ministry with and among you well so that you can begin penning a new chapter with fresh ink. Know that you all carry my earnest prayers with you as you work toward the future God continues to unfold before you.

With humble thanks and a grateful heart,

Rev Michael N. Riggs