After careful thought and 42 years of ministry, Pastor Charlie and Donna have announced their intent to retire! This is not an easy decision for them since they both agree the 10 years they spent at PUMC have been the most welcoming and wonderful place they have served. As much as they have enjoyed their time with us, it is time for them to travel and spend more time with their kids and grandkids. Charlie’s last sermon will be on Father’s Day, so we still have many months of worship with him and Donna. Our Superintendent and the Bishop’s office are already aware and working to ensure they appoint the right pastor to follow in Charlie’s footsteps. The diligent process they used to send Charlie and Donna to PUMC will bring us another great pastor. While we are all excited for Charlie and Donna, we also recognize that we are sad at the thought of them leaving, and change can be hard and a little scary. We will work through all of that together and with prayer. Please join me in congratulating Charlie and Donna on their wonderful years of service and upcoming retirement.
A message from Pastor Charlie:
Grace and Peace to you.
Thank you, PUMC, for supporting me and Donna as we have served here for what will be ten years at the end of this coming June. We love you! We wanted you to know about our retirement before the Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter seasons so that we could enjoy these special times together. You are a uniquely loving, caring, inclusive, and hospitable congregation that consistently serves others to make the grace and love of God in Jesus Christ clear to all. We continue to trust God to use the system by which we came to be sent to PUMC in 2014 to send a wonderful new Sr. Pastor to PUMC next summer. Though things will change next year, we celebrate the truth that Michael W. Smith famously sang, “Friends are friends forever if the Lord’s the Lord of them.” All God’s blessings, friends.
Shalom,
Charlie and Donna Wilfong
Plainfield UMC Today 