This was a letter from the Yangs and the Seamans to Trinity Life Church announcing that I would be stepping away as one of the Lead Pastors as of March 31, 2017. Please pray for all of us these next few months. God has been so faithful through all of this.
FROM DANIEL AND THE YANGS:
Dear Trinity Life,
A few Sundays ago on February 19 during our church family gathering Linda and I shared some difficult news announcing that I will be stepping away as one of our Lead Pastors at the end of March. Many of you were present to hear this news, but some were not. I realize it may come as a shock so I sincerely apologize if you’re learning this via this letter and not in person.
Planting Trinity Life with Mike and Missy has been the highlight of our life. Seeing you grow in your love for Jesus and his mission in Toronto is the greatest joy I could ever ask for as one of your pastors. And so for the record, I want to make it clear that our decision to step away from Trinity Life has nothing to do with leadership conflict, mission or vision, or anything having to do with Trinity Life in general. We love this church in the way we love our boys. In our eyes it’s the perfect church. We have only received love and support from you and we’ve always tried to lead with passion and conviction as we felt called by God to do so. But it’s that last part that we sense a change happening over the last few months.
I’d like to briefly share a few things with you and then hope to spend the month of March meeting, praying, and worshipping with you as we process this decision as a community.
Why am I stepping away? The last year and a half has been me learning to accept how God has wired me for ministry. I am a starter. All my ministry life I’ve started groups, ministries, conferences, gatherings. I’ve had my share of failures, but I realize that God uses me to start things and has others flourish in leading them. I had hoped starting Trinity Life would be different. Linda especially hoped this, but she knows me well and celebrates this aspect of my gifting. This next season will afford our family some much needed rest as we begin discerning our next ministry assignment. God has been clear that rest – not inactivity – is a part of our next season. Rest comes in various forms and I believe after March he’ll make that more clear to us.
At the same time, over the last year my desire to start a doctoral program has grown. It went from being a desire, to a possibility, to now a call. It had always been there and over the years Linda and I discussed that it would have to be in the right time. This last Fall we received the external confirmation we needed in order to move forward. Initially we had hoped that I would continue to lead in the church while starting a PhD. But after three weeks of praying and fasting we came to the difficult conclusion that doing both would not be beneficial to the health of either Trinity Life or our family. This was very difficult for Linda and I to process. But having been in similar situations before, we knew God was in this and we needed to trust Him.
We began processing this decision with Mike and Missy in early December and with our boys after Christmas. Once we gained a better grasp of our next steps, we shared with the Board of Directors and mutually decided that leading until the end of March was a good timeline for both the church and our family.
What is our next step? I was accepted into a modular PhD in Intercultural Studies program at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago. I’ll be researching and studying new ways to evangelize and reach North America with the Gospel. Our family will remain in Toronto until the boys finish school and then we’ll decide if we’ll relocate to Chicago where I can fully focus on research and study or to Detroit where we already have some familiarity and I will commute to Chicago twice a semester.
There’s still much to share and process together in prayer over the next month. But as Mike shared at our family gathering, Trinity Life is in one of its greatest seasons and our leadership team’s commitment to the vision and mission of the church is at its strongest. I truly believe that the greatest days of Trinity Life are ahead and I am so humbled and honoured that we got to see a glimpse of it in these early years.
Let me conclude with three brief encouragements:
1.) Pray earnestly in this season. God is doing so much and the most important thing we can do is pray. Prayer tunes us in to what God is doing. Over the next few months find daily time to pray specifically for Trinity Life to experience God’s favour. Pray for the Seamans, the Yangs, the Board of Directors and our leadership team to continue to move forward in hearing, trusting, and obeying God.
2.) Commit to Jesus’ mission. Use this opportunity to increase your commitment to Jesus’ mission. There’s something very special happening at Trinity Life. We hear it all the time from others outside of our community. Commit to the Body. Serve. Go deeper. Invite others to hear the Gospel and experience Gospel community. God will honour your commitment.
3.) Support our leaders. God has given Trinity Life very godly and gifted leaders. As Mike continues to lead our leadership team, give them the support and encouragement they need in order to boldly lead Trinity Life in fulfilling God’s Kingdom mission in Toronto. You make the difference in their ability to lead well.
I look forward to spending the next month praying and worshipping with you. It’s been our greatest joy being a part of this community. God has so much in store for you. Thanks for letting us be a part of your lives. God is on the move, so hear, trust, and obey Him.
In Christ,
Daniel and Linda
FROM MIKE AND MISSY:
We love Daniel, Linda, Justin, Conor, Joel, and Abraham. They are our family and it’s been an emotional past few months for us with the news of their departure. As Missy said in our family meeting, even though we met the Yangs in Toronto, planted TLC together, and led TLC together, our family’s calling to Toronto and Trinity Life Church is not wrapped up in their calling. If it was even possible, our calling, dedication, and dreams for T.O. and TLC have been even more confirmed by the Spirit.
I am the healthiest I’ve ever been as a child of God, as a husband, as a father, and as a leader. As a church in our city, we are in the healthiest season of our church and our greatest times are yet to come. Although we are sad that the Yangs are leaving, we have always been a church that has a big front door for anyone to be a part of our community and a big back door where people are released into the world anew as disciples of the Kingdom. We’ve never been about collecting Christians, we’ve always been about dispersing disciples and this is what we get to do with the Yangs in their next season of faith.
Everyone I’ve talked to is excited about TLC’s next season. We are stepping into God’s blessing much like Israel did when they entered the Promised Land in Joshua 3. This is our opportunity to take hold of what God has entrusted to us and usher the Kingdom into our city! So ask our Father what He wants to do to you and through you in this next season. Hear. Trust. Obey. It’s your time to take a step of faith and be a part of pushing the mission of God forward through the vision of Trinity Life Church. We love that we get to do this together!
We love you guys!
Mike, Missy, Emerson, and Reagan
THANK YOU FOR YOUR FAITHFUL PARTNERSHIP!
Daniel and Mike at Trinity Life’s first Sunday service on September 15, 2013.