Each year, as Annual Conference concludes, there is a tradition that occurs prior to the appointments being announced for the upcoming year. The Advocate, which is official magazine of the Virginia Annual Conference, is distributed and shows where each pastor is being sent. Upon receiving a copy of the magazine, my first reaction is to find my name and to make sure I know where I am going. You never know!

I cannot believe a year has come and gone. From the beginning, you have been so kind and gracious to me. I am deeply thankful for your prayers, encouragement and patience, as I have tried to serve as your pastor. In our brief time together, I have witnessed the moving of the Holy Spirit in the life of our church. Each time we gather for worship, fellowship, and ministry we witness God’s grace in abundance. I believe the reason this has happened is because of a desire to see Francis Asbury alive with purpose and vision. As we begin a new year together, the words of the great hymn “My Hope Is Built” can inform us as to where God is leading our church:

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand (United Methodist Hymnal, p. 368).

We are possessed of a hope that does not come from the world, but is a result of God’s call to each of us to be disciples of the Risen Lord. The hope of Christ is our foundation. Because of this hope, I believe the best days of Francis Asbury United Methodist Church are ahead.

Sincerely,

Robert E. Cooper, Pastor