ALL THINGS MUST PASS

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11 New King James Version)

“All Things Must Pass” is a song that was written and sung by George Harrison of The Beatles. I guess it’s a fitting title for this piece.

The decision has been made by the local Assemblies of God hierarchy to close First Assembly of God of Framingham. My wife, kids, and I came to Framingham to pastor over 23 years ago. This is a surreal experience for me, for our family, as well as for our church congregation. I’m not writing with any animosity toward the Assemblies of God hierarchy. My “denominational” leaders have been pleasant, fair, and gracious to me and my family during these very difficult days.

The final decision to close the church in Framingham was made recently. Mary Ann and I were informed about it a little over a week ago. Yesterday, at our church’s Annual Business Meeting, Rev. Bill Button from the District Office in Charlton, Mass. came and told the church of the decision to close its doors. I also read my resignation letter; resigning as pastor.

First Assembly of God of Framingham has been small for many years and very small for the past few years. Church finances have been at the crisis stage for at least a year. That’s been very stressful for my wife (Our Church’s Treasurer) and for me as the Pastor. Despite our church’s decreased size, we have touched the lives of a number of people, not only at our church, but also throughout the Framingham and MetroWest communities.

The largest percentage of our regular attenders are over age 60 and many of our regular attenders are disabled in one way or another. Most of our church’s people are going to need quite a bit of pastoral care and spiritual and emotional support over the weeks and months to come. That greatly concerns me.

Our church building’s doors are soon to close, but they’re still open for a few more days.

This coming Sunday, March 7, 2010, will be the final Sunday at First Assembly of God of Framingham. As always, we’ll have Sunday School at 9:15 a.m. and the Morning Worship Service at 10:30 a.m. And, as always, visitors are welcome; although this service is especially meant as a time for present and past members and attenders of our church to heal and get some “closure”.

We do have a PRIVATE dinner for our church family at 12:30 p.m. Part of the reason it will be private is that we have a limited amount of food being brought in from a caterer and cannot accommodate “extras”. But in addition, this dinner will be a time for the church family to come together and remember many good times and some not-so-good times; to support each other, and to laugh and cry together.

I hope this next part will not sound too much like like announcing “calling hours” at a funeral home, but after the church dinner, from approximately 1:30 p.m. to approximately 3:30 p.m. (and MAYBE a little bit longer) I’ll be present at our church building to have coffee with any of my clergy friends and personal friends who want to stop by for a little while, say hello, and enjoy coffee and socializing with me. Even my blog readers who have never met me in person are welcome to drop by on Sunday afternoon for coffee and “meet & greet”! We’ll just keep making pots of coffee as long as we need to!

First Assembly of God of Framingham is located at 32 South Street (corner South and Taylor Sts.) in downtown Framingham. We’re right off Route 135 and our property borders that of the Chicken Bone Restaurant. We’ve got a parking lot which is accessed off Taylor St.

Incidentally, for those who know my daughter Amy (who is a nurse, married, and lives in Missouri), she will be present on Sunday and I’m sure she’d also love to see some of her MetroWest friends!

Finally, my resignation letter is a matter of public record. If anybody wants a copy of it, just send me an e-mail requesting it to

revrbaril@aol.com

I’ll be happy to e-mail you a copy.

God bless you.

P.S.- It looks as though I may not be working in full-time ministry for quite awhile. As of Monday, March 8, I am unemployed. I need some sort of secular employment ASAP. Any leads or info. would be much appreciated!