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Westminster Presbyterian Church
Durham, North Carolina
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On Moving to Seattle
Since many of you kind people have asked what Pat and I are planning to do
following my interim ministry here at WPC, and since our plans have now changed
three times, and since some people have heard of either Plan A, Plan B, or Plan
C, I thought it important to clarify our intentions.
A little history might be in order. When we came to Durham, we moved here from
our home in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and our intention was to return there at
the completion of the interim period. I remember Barbara Campbell Davis,
Presbytery Executive, calling me in Florida asking what our plans were, and
after describing them, she suggested I leave my membership in Florida Presbytery
rather than transfer them to New Hope Presbytery, which is what we did. That was
Plan A.
Having moved to Durham, fallen in love with the people at Westminster, where Pat
has said “I have more true friends at WPC than in any other church we have
served,” and enjoying Durham itself and my appreciation for Duke Divinity School
and getting to know some of its faculty and use its magnificent library, we
decided to place our home in Florida “on the market,” just to see what would
happen. Lo and behold, in spite of a very depressed market, the house sold! We
then started looking at homes all over Durham. After nearly three months of
looking, while there were two or three we actually almost bought, for some
reason just the right home did not appear. But our intention to remain in Durham
did not change. This was Plan B.
Then only about three weeks ago during one of those evening conversations most
parents have, Pat and I asked each other the same question. “What would you do
if something happened to me?” We both responded in the same way. “I guess I
would move to Seattle.” Then came the obvious next question. “So what are we
doing looking all over Durham for a house? Why don’t we, while we have good
health and enthusiasm for life, move out to Seattle together?” It seemed like
such an obvious answer! So the reason we are moving to Seattle is so simple,
namely, family.
Our family reasons include:
a. Our son, Tim, and his family, live just north of Seattle in Everett, with two
sons ages 11 and 8;
b. Our son Jim and his family in Paris, France, flies into Seattle with wife,
Macy, and two children, Ben, age 11 and Olivia, age 8, at least twice a year;
c. My brother, Don, has a grandson doing a surgical residency in robotics in
Seattle;
d. My middle brother, Roy, has two sons with families living in Seattle and Port
Townsend near the Olympic Mountain range;
e. Tim’s wife’s parents live there, and her father, Erv, was with me on the
staff at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas.
At the end of September, Pat flew out there, and in four days found a house in
Lake Stevens, a few minutes from Everett, on which we now have a contract, and
on which we will close the day before Thanksgiving. This is all Plan C. I hope
there is no Plan D!
I’m sure there will be other opportunities to say to you all how much you have
meant to Pat and me during the last two years. We have simply fallen in love
with you. In some of the classes I attended on interim ministry I heard that
interims are not supposed to do that. In that sense, I guess I don’t make a very
good interim minister. I could never have been a permanent interim, going from
church to church, doing my thing, and then saying goodbye. It must take a
special kind of personality to make that happen.
As far as a timeline is concerned, and this is still somewhat tentative, six
months ago we purchased tickets to Seattle to be with Tim and family at
Thanksgiving. Tim has said, “You fly to Paris, you fly to Munich, what about me
out here!?” My last Sunday with you will be November 9, so if we can coordinate
with the movers to get our “stuff” out there a few days after Thanksgiving, we
will probably stay there and move in!
When I announced all this to the Session last month, Shayne came up to me
afterward and said “Make sure you get an extra bedroom in that house, and call
it the Westminster Room.” That’s exactly what we have done!
Finally, (this is getting to be more than a “corner”), let me say how
fantastically excited I am with you all at the coming of Chris Tuttle. What a
first-class young man with outstanding credentials, and a love and devotion to
the church. I know he, together with our outstanding staff, will lead WPC into a
future blessed by God.
Shalom, Jack