After a decade and a half of service, today is my final day as a member of the ABCNJ Regional Ministry Team. We’ve had almost an entire turn-over of the full-time staff in the past year, and I’ve had a difficult time integrating into the new workflows which have formed. This isn’t an uncommon occurrence during times of transition, it’s just part of life. It’s a difficult thing to say goodbye, being on region staff has been part of my mental picture for a long stretch, but it was time. The folks on staff are my friends, and I remain a pastor in the region, so our paths will continue to cross. This is good.

Looking back of my years serving the region, I am very proud of the work I’ve done. I don’t care for bullet-lists, as a rule, but I thought it was fitting to take stock as this particular journey ends.

• I’ve overseen the region web-site since 2006 or 2007 ¹. Over that period we’ve migrated through Joomla and WordPress, and have landed on Squarespace.
• The earliest Annual Session in which I was doing the technical directing was 2008. I think.
• I migrated the region from Constant Contact to Mailchimp.
• I got the region on FaceBook and twitter in 2008.
• I designed the current ABCNJ logo.
• Every region event logo, since 2009, has been designed by me.
• All promotional materials for region events have come from my desk since 2009.
• I redesigned the region business cards, twice.
• I introduced the region to GoogleApps for non-profits.
• I brought video to the region as a ministry tool, and even live streamed with some mission trips while they were in the field.
• I’ve led numerous workshops on the use of technology for ministry communication, which has gotten a number of region pastors using some new tools.
• I have tried, and tried, to get all region presenters to never again use bullet points on slides. Alas, this is a difficult addiction to break.
• I designed the current Ordination Certificate, so my work will be hanging in pastors’ studies for years to come.
• I developed the backend for our region database (not the database itself) and oversaw it’s integration into our annual directory.
• I laid out every regional directory since 2009.
• I introduced the region to team messaging, which has increased a sense of connection. First Slack, and now Ryver.
• I laid out the two books (eBook and Print) ABCNJ has published–A book of testimonies, and the 2020 Lenten Devotional.
• I achieved a dream I’ve had since 2008, to do a “show” for the ABCNJ with folks from around the region. It’s fitting that the daily devotional webcast, brought on by the advent of the CoVid-19 Pandemic, was effectively the last service I performed on behalf of the region.

I always saw my purpose was to make the region look good. That is, to look like we cared about what we did through the ways we communicated. I hope I was successful and, as I now step away, I hope it’s a legacy which will continue.

Now I’ve a lot more time to mess with the heads of Central Baptist Folk. This could be fun ².