The Succession Story (Part Five) – Come Thou Long Awaited Answer

“Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations…” Psalm 119:90a

As per our arrangement, the man who came to dinner contacted me on December 31, 2016. After a time of sharing, it was determined that it would be wise for him to have an extension until the first week of January.

On Friday, January 6, 2017, the man who came to dinner called me with his answer. He and his wife believed that the Lord was calling him to become the next senior pastor of Evergreen SGV.

The answer had come and the answer was yes.

After years of waiting, listening, and then acting, the man who is to become the next senior pastor of Evergreen SGV confirmed his calling to become our next senior pastor. The identity of the man who came to dinner is Rocky Seto along with his wife Sharla and their children, Kaylani (11), Mia (9), Troy (7) and Timothy (5).

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

The next step was to get the affirmation of the saints through a vote of our church membership. It was decided to wait a few months before calling a meeting to vote on Rocky’s candidacy. The time table was pre-empted by a story printed in the Seattle Times.

As a result of the story and all of the questions that followed, the church membership was called together on Sunday, February, 19, 2017 to present Rocky Seto as the next senior pastor of Evergreen SGV. All of the votes were cast and counted by February 26, 2017. The decision to call a senior pastor required a three quarter majority of the votes cast.

At 1:00 PM on Sunday, February 26, the votes were counted. The results were 296 yes, 4 no and 3 abstentions, which equaled an affirmative majority vote of 98.6%. I cannot remember a vote over a major decision being so decisive.

And so, the waiting was over, God’s faithfulness was revealed and we were able to rejoice and give glory to God.

God has always been so good to our church family and now He is blessing our next generation with His goodness through the calling of their senior pastor. Indeed, His faithfulness continues throughout all generations.

If you would like to read more about Rocky, there has been a follow up article in the Seattle Times that is worth reading.

We now begin the transition.

It gives us more to think and pray about…