A FAREWELL LETTER chapter 131

My departure from Saskatoon came rather suddenly. I wasn’t making plans or even thinking of leaving. I could not see the future or know what future ministries this door would open. I left with a degree of frustration.

We had hosted Norm and Ruth Wylie for a meal while they were candidating to replace Les Hamm, the associate pastor. In the course of the evening he mentioned the salary he was being offered. I kept a straight face, but was immediately upset. The next morning I wanted to know why a person with whom I attended college and who had never been in ministry was being offered so much more than I after five years of service.

I reasoned that my ministry was greatly appreciated and going extremely well. With five years of experience under my belt I believed I was worth more than someone just entering ministry. I was told that job was worth more. After a brief discussion (read argument) no change had occurred and I left feeling unappreciated and frustrated. It did not make sense to me.

Later that week, I got a call from W. H. Brooks, the pastor of Tenth Avenue Alliance Church in Vancouver, BC who was looking for a Christian Education pastor. Bill Goetz was leaving and he needed a replacement. We talked about what the job would entail and it offered slightly more responsibility. I liked that. When he mentioned the wage, it was already more than was being offered for the new position in Saskatoon so I was interested. I was upset about the wages in Saskatoon, but still did not want to leave so I negotiated with Pastor Brooks for an even higher offer. I knew it would cost more to live in Vancouver. We came to an agreement and he flew to Saskatoon for a more formal interview. I don’t believe anyone knew he was there, but he may have contacted Pastor Boldt to get permission to meet with me. That was the way things were done in 1971.
I did not want to leave this group of kids, The first group had all graduated and moved on and the current group were terrific. We were doing more and having more fun. I was aware that certain things would come to an end if I left and that bothered me. The paper would definitely end. On the other had, how long could it last? It was fun but very time consuming. The thought of leaving the incredible camps was another issue as was quizzing. It seems that in every position I had there was something different that rose to the top. It was clearly quizzing in Saskatoon. 

I accepted his offer and we began making plans to move. Our biggest concern was that we had applied for adoption of our second child only six months earlier. We wondered if that application could be transferred to British Columbia. No, it could not. We would have to start all over. That certainly gave us pause. Had we made a mistake? Della thought we had and let me know. While I had accepted the assignment in Vancouver, I had not yet resigned at University Drive. Maybe it wasn’t too late to stay where we were? After checking with adoption in BC, we were told there would be at least a three-year wait for a child. Neither of us wanted to wait that long. It would then be five years between our children.

I’m sure it has much more to do with a sense of rejection, but I was determined to move. Della was no happy, but agreed and we set everything in motion.

Here is the farewell letter I wrote for the AYF Valley News on June 25, 1971.

Special thanks to Dorothy, Dot, Forrest, Morgan, Hildebrandt (all the same person) who was the editor of the AYF Valley News and scanned all the issues. I loved seeing what we thought then and the sense of humor. I only reprinted a few of the many pages published, but I could not have done it without her help. Thank you Forrest.