Dear Life Together Family and Partners,
I write to inform you of some exciting and big changes in my life and in the Life Together leadership.
As of December 8, 2014, I will transition to part-time work with Life Together and begin an extended paternity leave through the spring of 2015, as my wife and I anticipate the birth of our daughter any day now! Over the winter, the Life Together staff and leadership team will launch a hiring process for a new staff position to begin in the late spring. I will be involved in this process and am committed to training this new staff member. In June, I will return to full-time work with Life Together for a few weeks before my last day with the organization on June 26, 2015.
Over the past few months, it has become very clear to me that God is calling my family back to Colorado where I grew up. As you might imagine, this transition is full of many different emotions for our family. There is excitement for what lies ahead, mixed with sadness for what we leave behind.
The Life Together staff has known about this for a few months and has been working diligently alongside our Advisory Board to put together a strong transition plan. I am especially grateful to the Rev. Arrington Chambliss and Rebecca Behizadeh for taking on additional responsibilities that will help enable this change. We are in strong place organizationally and the Reverend Arrington Chambliss will continue to lead Life Together as Executive Director with the support of Rebecca Behizadeh.
Since joining this community in August 2008, the past six years have been full of so much life and learning for me. In many ways, I have grown up here. I have learned how to be a more faithful follower of Jesus, a more effective leader, and a more compassionate husband and friend. I have learned practices and tools that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. So for these reasons, and many more, it is hard to say goodbye.
I am grateful beyond words to the Rev. Arrington Chambliss, the Life Together advisory board, our program partners, current fellows, and alumni for giving me the great privilege of co-leading this community through its founding stage. The experience has been far more challenging and far more rewarding than I could have ever imagined. I am so thankful for the friendships, the mentoring and encouragement, and even the challenges we have navigated together along the way. I have succeeded and failed more times in this position than I can count. And I have given Life Together my best effort. I have tried to come to work each day with a desire to contribute and a willingness to learn. Over the past few years especially, I’ve worked tirelessly to create strong partnerships, organizational infrastructure, and sustainable growth plans for the future—all borne out of a desire to see this community continue to thrive beyond any one person’s participation.
This transition is bittersweet for me. My wife Daniella and I are thrilled for this new chapter in our lives. We are looking forward to becoming parents and moving closer to family. But we are also very sad to leave the city of Boston and the many communities that have formed us so profoundly over the past twelve years.
I remain deeply committed to Life Together’s vision of developing prayerful and prophetic leaders for the church and the world, and I look forward to serving alongside each of you through June 26, 2015 to complete this program year. In the coming weeks, we will be sending out a job description for a new staff position with Life Together to begin in the late spring, and we ask for your support in spreading the word.
I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the support I have received from many of you, and I ask for your continued prayers during this time of transition.
With gratitude, Jason