Thanks Matt and Carrie!

Sunday, April 06, 2008

For those who were not at CCV’s Sunday morning services today to hear this firsthand, I want to share that it is with both sadness and excitement that Matt Silver has accepted the position of Youth Pastor at Mountain Christian Church in Bel Air, MD.

Six years ago Matt came to CCV selling shoes at the KOP Mall, and now he leaves as one of the finest Youth Pastors in the country.

Let me share a few things to help everyone process this announcement.

1. Mountain Christian Church has a huge need. They are a church of 3,500 and have been through 5 youth pastors recently. They have a strong ministry, but it isn’t as outreach-oriented as the leadership would like, and Matt’s skill set will make an immediate impact there.

2. Carrie’s family attends Mountain Christian Church. Her mom is on staff there. Her brother and his wife attend there. With little Ian and one on the way in June, we can all understand the pull to be close to family.

3. Youth ministry is a tough job. Matt has been away more than another staff member at CCV. Impact and RIOT take lots of trips, as does any other youth ministry. And while Matt and Carrie have a great marriage, we can all understand that it just helps during those times to be close to other family members to help out with little ones.

4. Matt and Carrie will be right down the road and we will see them all the time. Not only will he come back here to speak on a regular basis, but our students will see him at PCTC, the Eastern Christian Convention, Indian Lake, and a whole host of other events.

5. Matt goes to Mountain with my full support, our staff’s full support, and our Leadership Team’s full support. This isn’t a situation so much where Matt is leaving us, as it is a situation where we are sending Matt. One theme that runs throughout the Bible is that the church always “sends out” its very best leaders. That’s certainly the case with Matt and Carrie.

6. We have a very clear transition plan for how we are going to go about finding a replacement for Matt and cover student ministry activities until that person arrives. We have hired 4 great summer interns to work with our students (Melissa Jaworksi, Adam Flora, April Tatta, and Brendon Foulke). They will all begin teaching from the stage on Sunday nights at Impact and RIOT and become the point people for going on trips and our summer camps. To guide them, Frank Chiapperino will function as our interim youth guy. As you know, Frank was our youth pastor before Matt came along.

7. Our goal is to have Matt’s replacement here by mid-summer, so we are actively looking nationwide for great candidates. If you know someone that is interested they can email me at brian@moviechurch.com.

8. Matt and Carrie’s last Sunday is April 27th. On that night we will have a big reception at the building from 6-7:30pm. Kids, students, and adults are all encouraged to attend. We’re going to show funny videos that Matt has been in. I’m sure the students will want to say a few things. Then we’re going to have a big prayer time and send them off well.

I want to encourage you to bring cards that night telling Matt and Carrie how thankful you are for all they’ve done. And I want to encourage you to pack those cards with as many gift cards and as much cash as you can. When someone serves well and ends well here at CCV, that’s always what we do.

Matt and Carrie, we love you and are appreciate everything you’ve done here at CCV!

With great affection,

Brian