June 16, 2003

Dear Elders:

It is with great regret that I write this letter to inform you of my resignation as Associate Minister at Liberty Christian Church, effective August 2003. According to the 60 day notice outlined in my job description. The only obligations that I have this summer are VBS, and Camp in August.

This role has changed my life over the past 4 years almost 5 years.. My work with our young people could hardly be called work at all-they have gifted my life with purpose, challenge, humor, and feelings that no words can capture. We are fortunate to have such a terrific group of young people. The future of Liberty Christian Church is assured-it will rest in capable hands.

I have prayed about this decision, and I truly believe it is the right thing to do. Let me share my reasons.

1. After praying and seeking God’s direction for the past 6 months, God has lead me to this conclusion..
2. Budget restrictions. It is just a reality that a church of your size cannot meet the needs of 2 full time staff members, with one being a growing family
3. The church that I have currently accepted has some connections to my home church and a chance to further my faith journey and accountability to my home church.
4. I firmly believe that God has finally brought you the right preacher for the right ministry at Liberty. God has great things in store for you and for the great work David Snyder is doing.

I want to thank you for this opportunity to work with the young people at Liberty Christian Church. They are our greatest assets, and I encourage everyone to continue to listen to them, talk to them, work with them, cheer for them, and-most of all,-pray for them.

If I can be of assistance in hiring a replacement, please don't hesitate to ask. I am extremely interested in seeing that my successor is nothing short of magnificent. Our kids deserve nothing less.

Thank you for your understanding and for the privilege of serving the young people of Liberty Christian Church.

Sincerely,



Gerrard R. Fess
Associate Minister

Word of Advice:

Never Chair a Camp meeting where the Camp manager threatens to resign ...I being a director and Vice-chairperson; on the executive committee and Vice-President of our Camp Association experienced this late last nite. Just a thought! It seems to be resolved but will need further implications for the future of our camp.

Word of Advice 2:

Never let your daughter play with the cat's tail.

Word of Advice 3:

Cut your grass before it rains

Word of Advice 4:

Make a list of Top ten signs its time to leave dodge: One for me if when the Sr. Pastor starts to memo you to death and never even sent out a memo before.

I recently saw a sister church's motto - Making Room for You. Well,
my little motto of late is "We have Room for You!" We have not only the
physical room, but the mental, social and spiritual room. We need You! We
need you to come worship with us. To pray for us. To socialize with us
...and most importantly Serve with us. The Student Ministries here at
Liberty wants to give young people a chance to come, connect, committ and
be commissioned. We have Room for You to Serve. We need godly parents;
godly youth sponsors; godly grandparents. Basically we need people to be
the people God wants them to be.

A part of that is encouraging your church leadership.

Here are 10 Ways to Encourage People in the Serving Business of our
Church.

1. Have the church leaders and Ministry Leaders visit another church that
is active and growing and maybe apply some of the principles to the
situation here at Liberty.

2. Bring some of the leadership and that of a growing church to your
congregation.

3. Have a brainstorming session with a guest speaker or even the people
here at Liberty for new ideas.

4. Ask the leadership to take part reading and discussing a helpful book.

5. Listen to helpful Tapes. (I personally find James Dobson's resources
good for families).

6. Use articles from magazines and websites to help you in your journey.
I like the Lookout for devotional, Group Magazine, and also the
Stone-Campbell Journal.

7. Invite a consultant to present a seminar. A lot of our Bible College
professors have thorough knowledge to help our church leaders and workers
out.

8. Secure manuscripts or resources such as from the NACC or even from the
different camp meetings that happen.

9. Visit your local Christian bookstore and browse for a while to look
for helpful resouces including videotapes and that. I had found the
Wineskins magazine by accicent while at Logos Bookstore. People at Heaven
& Earth, Lifeway can be very helpful.

10. Start with yourself. In order for there to be encouragement, and that
we have room for you is to start with yourself. Evaluate yourself. Am I
serving where God would have me? Can I encourage others? I tend to be
more critical of myself than anyone else. I also tell people "That you
may have a log in your own eye, but I got a whole forest in mine that I'm
working on!"

Some people want to just give up and maybe even go to another church.
Instead wouldn't it be great if people instead of saying well this church
doesn't offer this or that ....that they would honestly look at
themselves and say I'm going to give this church a different ministry. A
different approach. We have room for you. But are you willing to fill the
room?