This communication will have three voices sharing a painful update about some unexpected staff changes beyond the announcement on Town Hall. This first section will be from Jason Ellis speaking with the Board of deacons, the next will be from Pastor Leslie, and the final section will be from Pastor John Jay. 

Letter from the Board of Deacons

Dear FBCP family,

Below you will read a note from Pastor Leslie Cheng, announcing that she has decided to leave the staff. She has written a letter to our church, so will let you read her words below for more context. We also received Sally Loose’s resignation this week, who is on the staff as an administrator. We are all feeling the pain of this news and are deeply saddened by these departures, while also working with the remaining staff to understand how these changes will impact the larger church in the weeks ahead. 

Originally the Deacon Board was planning to host a listening session with the church to answer questions and make ourselves available as it related to Lindsay Dorman’s news that she is exiting the staff. We will open up space this Sunday in worship to do that. Transparency and integrity of process are core values for our church and Board, and we want to lean into those values in the weeks ahead. As we all feel the weight of these departures, we intend to step in more publicly, seeking to offer steady presence, openness, and attentive care to our community. We hope you join us for worship on Sunday, November 16 at 10:30am. The service will include a lot of the normal structure, but also some time for a conversation with the Deacon Board and communal prayer. Over the next couple of weeks we will be working with the remaining staff to help build an interim plan through the end of the year. The Board has invested a lot of time and prayer over many months to help our staff through some difficult discernment. We are here to continue that leadership and service to the larger church as we navigate the pain and loss of some beloved staff members. 

There’s a lot of talk above about transparency, and I’m sure many of you are feeling that there has been a lack of it. When something like this happens and there is a lot of mystery around it, it’s really difficult to process. We agree that this isn't ideal. I’m sure it can be frustrating, but please know that there has been a great deal of discernment, thoughtful conversation and intentionality in this process, and that confidentiality is often necessary in board work. Please trust that the Board is deeply committed to supporting staff culture, nurturing leadership rhythms, and tending to the overall health of our team. We love this church, and we’re committed to working through it together and finding a healthy path forward. 

I can’t promise any additional information than what we will share on Sunday, but if you need to reach out via email, I am happy to meet with you or help you find a Board member to talk with. You can email using this link to reach the Board Moderator.

In Christ, 

Jason Ellis, Saskia Pallais, Brian Young, Judy Sutterlin, Rich Laski, Jessica Henson, Charles Corlett

Letter from Leslie Cheng

Dear FBCP Congregation, 

I am writing to share that I will be leaving First Baptist Church Pasadena, and my last Sunday will be this Sunday, November 16. Warren and I made this difficult decision with much prayer and discernment, and we are deeply saddened to leave you.

You have been so formative in my journey to becoming a pastor, and I have cherished every song, moment of laughter, and embrace.  My favorite part of each week is to stand on the chancel at the keyboard, looking out to all of you in our beautiful sanctuary as we prepare to sing, knowing that each of you holds a unique journey that stitches together to become the quirky community that is FBCP.  As your voices fill the space, together we create a sacred abode for our great God, on earth as it is in heaven.  Thank you for partnering with me so faithfully with love and curiosity, thank you for trusting me and fostering such a loving community.  I will miss y'all deeply.

We will give you updates regarding this transition as soon as we are able to. In the meantime, let us savor each moment and be present with each note and with each other.

Love y’all to pieces, 

Pastor Leslie

Letter from Pastor John Jay

Dear Church Family, 

What a heavy letter to write. We are overwhelmed with sadness at these departures, and honestly still making sense of it all. Your pastors and staff have the blessed burden of holding multiple identities as part of our church role. We are professional colleagues who share collaborative work and leadership for the spiritual flourishing and growth of our church community. But we are also close friends; many of us have worked together for years. We have shared highs and lows as a team, with many of us having walked together through Covid, the Fires, political turmoil, changes in the church membership, previous staff transitions. Our families know each other, shared table fellowship in our homes together, have had one another as emergency contacts for our kids, supported one another through personal hardships, and the list goes on. To say it more simply, we are humans in complex and multilayered relationship with one another. So this collective loss of Lindsay, Leslie and Sally hurts deep. It will for some time. 

Those of us who remain are also feeling diminished by the loss of female leadership and collaboration, which is such a high value of our church. This is devastating, and a leadership imbalance that we trust God will help us repair through prayer, discernment and intentionality. But for now we are just pained at the loss of close friends. There is no replacing their unique voices and contributions. There is just grieving the loss, and paying close attention to the lessons taught through suffering, failure, and powerlessness.

As the Board letter mentions above, we are assisting the Board in holding a revised Sunday worship service to make space for our church to bring our hurting hearts to God and one another in prayer, singing and dialogue with the Board. I continue to be amazed at the faithful presence of our Board of Deacons, especially these last few months as they offered leadership and council through an extended discernment process. They have demonstrated time and again their love for this church through sacrificial giving of their time, their wisdom, their patience for God’s timing, even when it meant extended uncertainty and pain. They have endured collective struggle and never lost sight of their role as servants of this church for the good of the Gospel. I have leaned on them, argued with them, cried with them. Thank you Jason, Saskia, Judy, Rich, Jessica, Charles and Brian. We need you, and you keep showing up ready to serve. 

I remain committed to this church even and especially when it is painful and situations are unsettling. I am sitting in a position of humility, refinement, and trust in God. Fortunately these are all core Christian postures. The Gospel of death and resurrection has now become alive in our wounded community. We need God, and we need one another. So many people have reached out to ask if they can help serve and bring stability in the days ahead. If you feel that conviction arising, let’s talk. There is much work to do. But first, prayer. 

See you Sunday to do just that. 

Less without you (words now painfully truer), 

Pastor John Jay