From Regional Minister and President, Richard Guentert:
June 21, 2008
To: The Disciples Church Family of the Upper Midwest Region
Re: The Date for the Completion of a Regional Ministry
Dear friends,
At the end of 2008 it is my intention to complete my service as Regional Minister and President to the Upper Midwest Region. I am announcing it at this early point to provide the Region’s Personnel Unit a suitable window of time for assessing leadership needs and for seeking to identify and call that leadership.
December 31st will be the last day of my service to the Region in this role, and will mark the completion of 15 years in this office of episcopal care for the congregations of Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas. The finishing-out of this term of office will also mark the end of 29 years of my life which have been dedicated to the Regional manifestation of Christ’s church in the Regions of Kansas and the Upper Midwest.
It was following the Upper Midwest floods of 1993 that I was consecrated to begin this particular ministry. And now it is following the Upper Midwest floods of 2008 that I offer this letter indicating the future date of my resignation, and pause to recall another kind of flood – the flood of blessings with which I have been blessed as your Regional Minister in all those in-between years.
Thank you for all the personal and professional development you have nurtured in my life the past decade and a half. These years have been deeply rewarding and have afforded me a host of precious memories. It has been a privilege for me to be your servant in the stewardship of this Sacred Trust. Reflecting on the providence which made this charge possible, I am deeply humbled. This has been a wonderful and meaningful setting for the exercise of my baptismal vocation, for the employment of my ordination vows, and for the utilization of my gifts for Regional ministry.
I have been fortunate to work with some of the finest lay and clergy leadership this denomination has generated. Throughout this ministry I’ve been surrounded by committed Regional Board leadership and truly gifted Moderators in each and every biennium. Most especially I am grateful for the caliber and commitment of both Clergy Staff and Support Staff whose partnership in this endeavor has continually been collegial, supportive, inspiring and remarkable.
I am quite confident about the transitions that will be occurring – given the continuity of quality Regional leadership that is being nominated in October to lead us into the next biennium, and given the continuity of quality professional ministerial leadership you have in Don, Bill, Andy, Caroline, Roberta and Bert.
And the Region is likewise blessed to have in place an outstanding and exceptional Personnel Unit under the able leadership of Randy Ehrhardt. I invite your prayers for them as they begin their work in discerning the leadership needs for a new era in the ministries of the Upper Midwest Region. And please be assured that I will remain diligent in providing the best energies and efforts I can throughout the remainder of this year.
As “Disciples Together” we have traversed a significant season and a cherished chapter in the life of Christ’s church. In the coming six months I have no doubt that this Region’s leadership will pull together to keep on addressing the immediate and the long-term challenges that lie ahead of us. We do so always mindful that we are “Sharing in the Fullness of God’s Table, for the Blessing of All.”
It is my sincere prayer that history will regard the work and witness we have accomplished “together” as efforts upon which future generations may build, and that our offerings rendered “together” will truly bring glory to Christ and to his Church.
Yours in Christ’s service,
Dr. Richard Guentert
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