Roswell Students

September 28th 2022

Dear RCC Student families,

Tonight at Youth Group, I will be sharing an update with the students regarding my role here at Roswell Community Church. I am writing this in advance so that you - as members of our youth group family - are aware and can join us in prayer in this upcoming season. I also believe this email will be helpful either as you pick up your students tonight to follow-up with conversation or so you can relay this information to your students if they are unable to attend tonight's youth group gathering.

2021 was a tough year for me. The two years prior included a lot of change, uncertainty, fear, challenges, discouragement, and disappointments - and I know that was also true for many of you. I found myself wrestling with where God wanted me to be, what did it mean to be a part of and serve the local church (and how should a church lead others), how to love and lead my own children well as a father, how to witness to my extended family scattered throughout the country, and how to be a strong, humble, Christ-like husband, friend, employee, and Youth Group leader in the midst of multiple things vying for my time. I was feeling stretched, and not in the same, exciting, motivational way I felt when I first took on this role back in May of 2017. There were so many things I loved about being with these students, seeing them grow and follow Christ more, working alongside some of the most authentic and encouraging Youth Coaches I've ever known - and yet I couldn't shake this sense that God was drawing me into something different.

After the Summer Retreat of 2021, God confirmed it was time that I take a break, to pause, take a step back, and consider holding out the torch for somebody else to carry. My love for student ministry was still solidly intact, if anything it had actually grown and deepened over the past 5 years. I knew that God wasn't calling me away from students, but He was asking me to trust Him. He was beginning to invite me into being open-handed with my desire to disciple and love the next generations in other contexts beyond being on staff at RCC and on top of working a full-time "day job".

I was not aware of Matt's stepping down as lead pastor in August of 2021, nor is my decision to step away from the Students Director role any reflection on Nick's arrival at RCC. On the contrary, I have been incredibly encouraged and reinvigorated as a member of this staff team in these last couple of months under Nick's leadership. He has been quick to show a genuine interest and passion for what goes on in RCC's Youth Group. Nick and I have discussed our shared value in discipling these students and their families well during such a critical time in their lives. Even in the preparations for my transition, he has shown me great care personally and professionally, reminding me of God's truths and what it means to be part of the body of Christ.

I have a lot of hope for what God is doing at RCC, and that includes the amazing, beautiful, life-changing work He is doing in our students. And I am expectant that that will continue in the hands of the new Youth Minister who RCC is seeking to hire by January 1, 2023, when I will officially step down as Students Director. RCC's leadership team has been preparing for my transition, as noted in the new ministry year budget during RCC's Vision Sunday last month. I have been encouraged as we have discussed the needs of our church, the importance of these students and their families, and my own preferences regarding my transition date and how to best communicate this to students in light of a new school year starting. I'm excited and expectant for what God will do through somebody devoting more time to this ministry than I presently can in this new, full-time position!

I can't express to you all how much gratitude and joy this role has brought me in these last 5+ years. I still remember being offered this opportunity in my predecessor's living room, sitting next to my wife, and thinking to myself, "They want ME?!" I also must confess it has been incredibly unnerving coming to a place where I am choosing to let this go, something I have been helping to lead for over 13 years. You can ask anybody who knows me - I don't do well with change. But the reality is that I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving RCC. I'm not moving out of state. I'm not taking another job at a larger church. My desire is to continue serving and developing the relationships I have with these awesome students (and coaches)(and you!) as a brother in Christ and member of Roswell Community Church.

I'm excited to see who God brings to our church as our leadership team puts together a search committee of parents, volunteers, staff, and even students to prayerfully bring on somebody who matches where we are as a church and as a Youth Group. And I look forward to seeing how I can come alongside them as both a parent and faithful advocate for the discipleship of these students.

In the meantime, I am genuinely looking forward to the remainder of this Fall semester as I seek to finish this race well, by His spirit and alongside a wonderful team of Youth Coaches. I also humbly ask for your prayers over me in these next couple of months!

Please also lift up Nick, our elders, my fellow staff, and the Youth Minister search team in prayer.

And pray for these students: for continued unity, fellowship, and a Spirit-filled hope in Christ's church. I have and will continue to remind them that this is their youth group. They have been and will continue to be the primary reason that other students have felt drawn to this community, where solid relationships are forged, and they can so beautifully embody the welcoming love of God, their Father in heaven.

If you or your student have any questions, I am certainly willing to meet and talk more about this update. I am so grateful to so many of you for your encouragement, laughter, generosity, and trust. It means more than I can ever express - so I'm glad that we'll have all eternity together for me to try. 🙂

You are loved. Your students are loved. And thank you for the love that you've shown me.

Sincerely,
Michael Panyard