Dear Members and Friends of Portico,
On January 9 2022, Pastor Jason Conner announced during our Sunday services that he would be transitioning out of his role as our Lead Pastor to serve as the Lead Pastor for our sending-church, Portico Charlottesville. Most recently we shared our leadership transition plan during our Member Gathering on January 29, 2022. If you weren’t able to attend, we hope this letter will provide clarity and serve as an update as we move forward together.
The following is a summary of the Member Gathering:
Key Takeaways
Pastor Jason Conner will transition out of his role as our Lead Pastor on March 1, 2022, to serve as the Lead Pastor for our sending-church, Portico Charlottesville. This transition is hard and unexpected but aligned with God’s call for Jason and the needs of Portico Charlottesville.
Pastor Nate Wagner will serve as Lead Pastor Candidate for Portico Arlington with the intent of transitioning to permanent Lead Pastor within six months. Pastor Jonathan Reeve will lead Portico Arlington organizationally during Nate’s candidacy.
Our building has been given to us as a gift from Del Ray Baptist Church.
Our last Member Gathering was full of surprises. To be sure, there’s still some shock, frustration, and plenty of work to do, but God is at work among us.
Saying Goodbye
Saying goodbye is never easy. It’s always worse when you deeply love those you’re leaving. For the last ten years, I’ve served as a pastor at Portico Church Arlington. For eight of those years, I’ve served as your Lead Pastor. It’s impossible to express in a letter how much Christy and I have been blessed by our time here. Our lives have been indelibly shaped by the relationships, mission, and even the hard things that Portico Arlington has delivered. Even so, it’s clear that our time here has come to a close.
As you may have heard, Portico Charlottesville is in the midst of a leadership crisis. Four elders, including their founding pastor, have resigned. Portico Charlottesville is hurting, frustrated, and in need of immediate help. I’ve been asked to take on the role of Lead Pastor for Portico Charlottesville and I’ve accepted that call. In saying that I’m called to this new position I mean I have sought God’s will through his Word, prayer, counsel, and circumstances. Because Portico Arlington lost her founding pastor very early on, I have experience that will be helpful in serving Portico Charlottesville. Lastly, even though it’s very hard to leave, I do desire to be used by God in this way.
God always makes provision for his people and we are not the exception. In moving me to a new calling, God is moving some of our leaders into new roles.
Leadership Transition
God gives power for the purpose of serving others. Too often in the Church, power isn’t used to serve others but to serve personal preferences and agendas. I’m very happy to report that our leaders have handled my transition to Portico Charlottesville with grace, wisdom, and godly initiative. They have prayerfully sought out God’s good provision for this new season in Portico’s story and have found it.
Our plan and hope is to have the role of Lead Pastor be filled by our own Pastor Nate Wagner. Pastor Jonathan Reeve will move into the role of Executive Pastor, giving more focus to organizational leadership while still leading areas of Worship and Leadership. The onramp for this transition will involve a Lead Pastor Candidacy period for Nate of up to six months. During this time, Pastor Jonathan Reeve will be responsible for organizational leadership, giving Pastor Nate Wagner time to transition. A Lead Pastor Assessment Committee comprised of members will assist the Elder Team in evaluating Nate’s fit for this role. You can expect the Elder Team to put Nate forward for a Member Affirmation Vote at the end of this process (about six months). We believe in this process and ask for your continued grace and patience as we move forward together.
What I’ve been most impressed with during this season is the humility of our leaders and Members. When unwelcome news comes, the normal response is to retreat or make demands. The response of our leaders and Members has been to humbly seek the Lord together, expecting He will provide. Let’s continue this posture of patience and humility as we move forward together.
Permanent Home
Del Ray Baptist Church has agreed to give us the building and the two homes on the property! Please join us in praising God for this kindness and the generosity of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We desire to be faithful with this gift for many years to come, witnessing to the power of the Gospel as we Unite People to Life in Christ.
There is an ongoing process taking place in transitioning ownership of the building from Del Ray to Portico. While that is happening, we have started to assess various needs and prioritize some immediate projects to maintain and refresh the building. Thank you all for your prayers, gifts, and support during our Homecoming Initiative. The Lord worked through all of it and we have been so encouraged to see his provision and care for us in these last five months. We will be using the money raised during that time for building repairs and projects and we will keep you informed about what that will look like at future member gatherings.
This new season will bring new opportunities, challenges, and situations for us to trust the Lord with. Remember how good God has been to us and continue to encourage each other to rely on him in the season to come.