This particular blog post is intended as a brief update on some significant developments that have been taking place in my life and ministry in recent months, and to let you know of a blessed new ministry focus into which I believe the Lord is leading me.
As some of you may have noticed, my writing website has been rather inactive this past year. Fourteen months ago I made the difficult decision to discontinue my Perspectives blogs in order to devote all my limited writing time to wrapping up a full-length biography on David Livingstone that I’ve been working on for several years. I’ll share more about the recent completion of that book manuscript in a future blog. But now that it’s completed, I’m able to turn my attention to other writing endeavors, including the resumption of materials for this website.
For a quarter of a century (!) I had the privilege of pastoring the Evangelical Free Church of Aurora, Nebraska. My family and I were unspeakably blessed all those years with a congregation that supported, encouraged, and appreciated us.
However, developments in recent months and years gradually led me to a reluctant but definite conviction in the early months of this year: namely, that a different pastor was needed to more effectively lead our congregation into the future. That realization led to the announcement of my resignation in early March and to the conclusion of my pastoral ministry at the church on May 1.
Initially, I supposed I would serve one more (shorter) pastorate or an interim pastor ministry before possibly retiring from pastoral ministry a few years from now. But due to a variety of factors, my wife Leeta and I found our hearts inclining in a different ministry direction.
For years I’ve thought that in retirement I’d like to devote more time to my writing ministry, which has always been carried out on the side of full-time pastoral ministry. As we thought and prayed over our next ministry step, we came to the settled conclusion that it would be appropriate (and in keeping with God’s will) for me to devote my coming years of still-full-time ministry to focus on my writing and related speaking opportunities.
So I’m presently in communication with a couple of publishers about future works in the field of historic Christian biography which I think they might well be interested in. To be clear, I’m presenting different potential works to those publishers, as it’s usually considered a no-no to run the same idea past separate publishers simultaneously. ☺
The posting of today’s blog also serves as the first official public announcement of a corresponding speaking ministry I’m launching. I’m now available for making biographical presentations on great men and women of the Christian faith at churches, schools, camps, retreats, conferences, and other ministry settings. In these presentations, I will relate some of the highlights and key spiritual lessons from the lives and ministries of outstanding Christians of the past in a way that is not only interesting but also spiritually inspiring and instructive.
For more information about this speaking ministry, including some of the prominent Christians and Christian living themes I’m able to make presentations about, see the Speaking page of our website.
You may also want to check out some other new material on the website, including the Why HCB? page, which brings together several of my past Perspectives that point out the benefits and enjoyment of reading and sharing historic Christian biography (HCB). You’ll also find John Piper’s and Tim Challies’ perspectives on HCB shared there.
Copyright 2022 by Vance E. Christie
