Seasons Come, Seasons Go

Dear Friends,

As many of you have discovered over the past couple of days, I was released from my position as the Worship Pastor at St. Simons Community Church early Monday morning. As I have been saying this week, “Seasons come, seasons go, and we don’t control the weather”!

Although I’m disappointed and saddened by the decision, it was not a surprise or shock to me. Over the past year, the leadership has expressed their concern about my ability to effectively lead our congregation into a more meaningful worship culture. These conversations were difficult but were always conducted with a heart of love and respect. At my request, the leadership has given me the opportunity to lead our congregation one final time this coming Sunday, September 30th.

I am overwhelmed with the emails, texts, messages, phone calls… Instagram private messages, tweets, Facebook Messages – I mean… you guys really get creative in how you want to communicate with me, haha! Seriously, the outpouring of love and support has been breathtaking and I honestly cannot possibly acknowledge or respond to every one of you. Please know that I see and hear you and I am so grateful for your encouragement.

As I told my 4 kids, I am proud of the work I did for the Kingdom of God through the ministry of St. Simons Community Church these past 11+ years. I hold my head high because I am proud of the legacy I leave behind. I am proud that my dismissal was based on the desire for a change in direction and not because of any policy violation, correction, unethical, or moral behavior. (I also told my kids that there will always be someone who can’t accept that and will speculate as to ‘what really happened’ and that they can be assured that this is true).

• I know that God is good.
• I know the Church, in all of it’s imperfections, is good.
• I am at peace and although greatly disappointed, I am excited about what God has for us in the future.

Nearly 12 years ago, the leadership of SSCC approached who was currently serving as their worship leader – someone who had helped start the church and led faithfully for many years. The season was over and it was painful to say “we love you and thank you, but it’s time for a change”. That transition opened the door for me to come and serve for over 11 years. I will forever cherish the time I have spent at SSCC. I’ve seen enormous, significant life-change through this ministry. I know that the leadership’s decision to initiate another transition was not easy and was painful for them as well. They have been honoring to me and have been extremely gracious in making sure that my family is taken care of during our time of transition.

SSCC is blessed beyond measure with a richness and abundance of talent and selfless, faithful singers, musicians, and technicians who made my job so easy. I will terribly miss making music and worshiping with this amazing, diverse team of people more than anyone can ever imagine. I love them deep to the core!

SO WHAT’S NEXT?

What’s next is the question everyone is asking me. The truth is, I have no idea. I’ve always been an entrepreneur of sorts and have lots of ideas. Although I recognize that I must be flexible, our heart is to remain in the Golden Isles. This is our home, our kids are deeply involved in this community and well frankly, this place is just special to us.

I’ve always had an e-commerce company as a side-hustle and I will be investing a lot of my time into building those brands. With more than a dozen years of e-commerce experience I have a vast amount of knowledge and education that I will be offering as a consultant. But as everyone knows, my primary passion is, and always will be, music.

I will continue to compose weekly piano instrumental interludes for my “Worship Interludes Podcast” that has now exceeded over 130,000 downloads in over 170 countries. I’m approaching a major milestone of nearly 1 million “plays” of my piano music on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, and YouTube. I’ve been holding off on releasing new piano albums and I now have time to devote to more composing and writing.

The reality is, I’ve been either a part of a worship team, or leading a worship team, practically every Sunday since I was in high school. (With the exception of my wayward freshman year at Georgia Southern University, that is!). For the first time in over 30 years, I am not obligated to be on a stage or platform every Sunday. I just may enjoy having church in a deer stand or on a river. I will enjoy asking God where He wants me to go. For the first time in over 20 years, I may be able to spend Christmas Eve with my family. Make no mistake, the sacrifices I’ve made for ministry have been more than worth it. I am forever grateful for the time that God has given me to serve such an amazing congregation who have demonstrated their love and commitment to Jesus in so many ways.

We are grateful for your love and prayers.

Love and peace,
Fred