18th January 2009

Dear brothers and sisters,

I hope you are well.

This summer I shall be stepping down as pastor of CGC and becoming the pastor of Cirencester Baptist Church. This is one of the toughest decisions I have ever had to make - because I love CGC and everyone in it.

For 4 years Suzie and I have been asking each other and God - "What does He want us to do?” And cutting a long story short - we are convinced that one of the things is for me to step into leading another church. This is part of what God has called me to do - to help churches to grow in their shared life and to reach out to those around them with a view to planting new churches.

I want to make it clear that this decision is not because I a) am bored with CGC, b) have fallen out with the leadership team, c) don't get paid enough or d) have been spotted going into some of the 'wrong' shops in Soho. I love CGC and this city - and could quite happily stay for the rest of my life. The team that God has put around me is a pleasure to work with - and my working relationship with Barney Skrentny is the best 'partnership in the gospel' that I have ever known. I simply believe that God is asking us to make this step. We have talked to many others (both in CGC and elsewhere) and they have given us lots of great advice as we have gone through the process of asking questions about our future and God's plans for us and CGC.

So, we plan to make this move this Summer - probably in July. It will be a big change for us - but we are excited, as are the congregation in Cirencester who have been without a pastor for 3 years.

Obviously, close to all our hearts is the question "What is next for City Gates?". I am passionate that CGC goes from strength to strength and continues to grow in loving God, each other and the world. I would not be considering this change if I did not believe that the church has the resources to go on in the future with strength and fruitfulness. The leadership team and trustees have been discussing for some weeks what the future of CGC might look like. In particular we are asking the question "Who will replace Matt?". There are two main options open to us:
1) To look for someone from within CGC
2) To look for someone from outside CGC

Our preference is to find someone from within our church who understands who we are, where we are going and is already involved in leading the church.
The leadership team and trustees have met with Barney Skrentny who shared with us what he would see for the future of CGC if he becomes our senior pastor. In the light of this the leadership team are proposing that Barney takes over the role of senior pastor at CGC when I move on.
This is the proposal that we are putting in front of all of you. We now invite you to feedback to us what you think about this. To help this process, we will be holding a Question Time after the service on Sunday February 1st. Barney will make a presentation and we will have opportunity to ask him questions (if you have a question for this meeting, please email it to one of the leadership team). Attached to this letter is a brief biography of Barney to help give you a greater impression of who he is.

As well as considering who will be our senior pastor, we are also exploring who can work alongside them, possibly as an Associate Pastor, to complement them.

I will continue as pastor of CGC until the summer with the intention that I will be working alongside my successor and gradually handing the reins over to him or her. After that we plan to continue our relationship with CGC and to look to be working together with you in the future.

You may well have questions or thoughts about all this. Please feel free to contact any of us on the leadership team or the trustees - including me. We will be happy to hear from you. (Their names and contact details are overleaf).

Please be praying for CGC that this time of changes leads to a stronger church in the future. God is with us and is building His church.

With much love,

Matt