Tim Woodroof

Following Brandon Scott Thomas and Scott Owings, on Sunday, Tim Woodroof, the teaching minister at Otter Creek Church of Christ, announced his resignation. July will be his 10th anniversary of his work at Otter Creek and he felt that it was time to move onto something else. If you want to listen to the announcement from Sunday, you can here.

Well, there are a couple of ways to look at this. Let's take it from Tim's perspective. Tim will be moving on to consulting with other churches and helping them navigate some of the waters that Otter Creek has navigated over the last 10 years. He will also be writing, as he stated on Sunday that he has 4 books that have to get out of him. I am incredibly happy for Tim. He is a man that I think will do very well at this type of work. Because of his book A Church That Flies, he has a strong amount of credibility in working with churches and counseling them. I really believe he's going to do very well at that.

The other perspective is Otter Creek's perspective. Tim's departure is not immediate. He will continue preaching over the summer in a part time role while developing his new work. But it does bring up a ton of questions about what's next for Otter Creek and what's past for Otter Creek.

Losing three ministers in 6 months strikes me as a pretty big deal. Otter Creek has lost ministers before, as have all churches. But it brings up a major question to me about the culture of Otter Creek that 3 ministers have chosen to move on. Is this a false cause-effect notion? Is it possible that all three have left for different reasons? Yes, it is, but in my mind, one is an anomaly, two is a pattern, and three is a problem. The remaining leadership needs to take a look at the culture of leadership and how the membership views leadership and the roles of leaders, and if there is something inherent in how we treat leaders that has been a catalyst for their departures. That's what's past.

What's next.... As I've said before, Otter Creek is really going to miss Tim, much as we have already missed Brandon and Scott. Tim helped guide Otter Creek's theology and caused us to think about many aspects of our faith. But, even in the midst of that and the sadness and disappointment that many feel about his departure, this can also be an opportunity for Otter Creek. This can be an opportunity for the entire church to begin thinking about a redefining of who Otter Creek is. It's very easy for a church like Otter Creek to get defined by what we aren't: "we aren't a conservative church of Christ."

This can be an opportunity for the leadership of the church to look towards the future, for the leadership to decide the kind of church Otter Creek can be and, rather than being satisfied with the status quo, dreaming about the influence that Otter Creek can have, not just within Churches of Christ, and not just within the Christian community, but within the wider community outside our walls. And once the leadership crafts this dream, this goal, they can then seek out someone who will help us achieve it as a community.

This could mean suspending our search for a worship minister for a time. In fact, I'm not sure that a worship minister candidate would want to take a job where he or she doesn't know who the lead teaching minister would be. If that needs to be the case, then that needs to be the case. But the ultimate goal should be to bring together a leadership team that will pursue the advancement of God's purposes for the world and for the ministry of reconciliation that God has called us to.

We all wish the best for Tim and this new phase in his life and his family's life and pray for his continued influence in the Kingdom of God and thank him for what he has done for Otter Creek over the last 10 years. It's a sad time, a time with some thought-provoking questions, but it also can be a great opportunity for Otter Creek if people are willing to look at it in that way.