Excerpts from The New Outlook
August 2007--Special Goodbye Issue
Saying Goodbye to the Dixons
Next Sunday, August 12, on
Michael Dixon’s last Sunday as Second Baptist’s interim pastor, we will
have a special coffee to say goodbye and express our appreciation to Mike
and Sandy for the encouragement, friendship, great ideas, and growth in
faith they have offered us this past year. It will be very hard to see
them go!
On his last official day as interim
pastor, August 15, Mike will have served here exactly one year. How much Mike
and Sandy have brought to us in that brief time! Mike will begin a new interim
ministry on September 4th at St. John United Church of Christ in Midway,
Illinois, a small community just northeast of Bethalto, Illinois, which is east
of Alton.
Our Members Say Thanks
We send The Reverend Michael Dixon and
Sandy Dixon from the enabling of ministry for us in a time of need and
transition to a new field of service. With them go our love and deep thanks for
Christ's ministry among us, well done and with true integrity. More was done
than we asked; all was done with grace and love and sincere intention for our
growth in God's love and service. Mike helped us to have patience, hope, and
optimism as we developed for our future. Thanks for your being our true
friend. We are your new friends for the journey too.
Sincerely, Fred and Fran Adams
*********************************************************************************************************************************************************Dear
Mike and Sandy,
Thank you for a wonderful year!
Upon arrival both of you quickly became a
part of our church family. We looked forward to your thought provoking sermons
each Sunday, and you always left us with ideas that carried us through the
week. We remember Christmas when Sandy guided us in decorating the Sanctuary,
the Lenten workshop that both of you led, and then Easter Sunday with your
inspiring sermon.
You always had time for us, regardless how
trivial or serious the situation, and you put your heart and full energy into
everything that you did. We will miss you greatly and wish you happiness and
blessings in your new work. We do look forward to Sandy’s continuing
involvement in our book study group.
Second Baptist Church is stronger because
of your leadership!
Dave and Jane Mahan
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I would just like to say that Mike and Sandy have been wonderful for our
church. Mike's sermons have always been thoughtful and Christ centered. They
have focused on applying the great Christian truths to real life situations and
have been very helpful to me and to our family. His direct personal support for
members with acute personal needs is much appreciated by all. And who can forget
his great personal warmth during baby dedications!
I shall always fondly remember Mike's breathless ascent to the choir loft on
Sunday mornings to lend much-needed assistance to the bass section of the choir!
Sandy has been a faithful member of our Bible Study Class since her arrival at
Second and has added so much to class discussion of various scriptural
passages. Her past experience in Bible Study and her familiarity with languages
has been a great help to our class. In addition, I very much appreciate her
supportive comments to me regarding our class.
Bill Gurley
**********************************************************************************************************************************************************The
The Dixons have taught us what the spirit of God means by unselfishly sharing
and giving of themselves totally for the betterment of Second Baptist Church.
Mike and Bev Apple
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We have really
enjoyed getting to know Mike and Sandy. Mike has been
such an inspiring worship leader, and a very congenial person to work with. He
and Sandy both have been so supportive of the music program. We were thrilled
when they joined the choir! We will miss them both very dearly and wish them
well in their new post. Their next congregation will be very fortunate to have
them!
Brad and Marilyn Short"
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Dear Sandy and Mike,
August 2006 – August 2007—just one short year but you two made it a memorable
one at Second Baptist. You have been so generous in sharing your time and your
many talents, like openness, friendship. Spiritual leadership, creativity,
cooperation, participation, writing, and many, many more. How could we ever
thank you?
I will surely miss you, but I will
remember you and be grateful for our year together.
Best wishes,
Meg Gilmore
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What a blessing you have been for Second this past year. Your inspirational
messages, thoughtful direction, and care and concern for everyone made all the
difference during this transitional period of our church. I am thankful for the
time you could be with us. Now, best wishes to both of you as you continue to
serve the Lord with the church family in Midway.
Peg Wann
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Thank you Mike and
Sandy for joining us this past year; we have enjoyed worshipping and working
with you. Mike’s approach to being our interim minister and his leadership
through the past year has been indispensable in Second’s transition to a
full-time settled minister. We enjoyed his sermons and appreciate that he has
brought new perspectives to Second. Mike is truly a professional minister and a
man of God.
Peace & Joy,
Tim and & Melanie Keeney, Ryan & Andrew
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Labels can be deceiving. Such as when your
wife says, "We're just having a 'few' people over for supper" or the head of the
property committee says, "We just have a 'little bit' of work to do around the
building". Some people might think the title of "interim" as 'fill-in' or
'simple' in character. Then someone comes along with an entirely different
vision and shows you a whole new set of possibilities and importance of the
interim process. Such a couple is Mike and Sandy Dixon. Their inspired
leadership has made a huge difference to us as a community. Not only has Mike,
with Sandy at his side, been a delightful pastor, but he has been carefully
preparing us for our next steps as we welcome our new full-time minister.
Thank you, Mike and Sandy, for your generous, loving and energizing leadership
this year. You are such a gift to us. Joan and Jay Jensen
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I want to add my personal thanks to Mike and Sandy for touching my life
as they did this past year through their faithful service as pastor and
minister's wife at Second Baptist Church. I appreciated everything including,
among many other things, quality sermons, positive participation in church
activities, and being such wonderful Christian individuals whom we all could
(and should) emulate.
Where Mike reached out the most for me,
however, was during the time my infant granddaughter Sarah Elizabeth had to
endure three heart surgeries -- in December, January, and February. Mike was
there through it all -- especially the first surgery when Elizabeth and Matt
came into the waiting room after having to send their baby away. Mike had us
quietly lift our hearts in prayer and suddenly everything changed. In the midst
of our incredible anxiety, we felt God's healing presence, and Elizabeth told me
later that a calm came over her halfway through the prayer, and she knew
everything was going to be o.k. It was. Sarah made it through that surgery as
well as the two other ones -- where Mike was also waiting with us, offering
strength and support. Sandy, by the way, was at home making telephone calls
soliciting prayers for Sarah! (I later learned that the day of the first surgery
was to be Mike's day off, but I don't think he ever kept track of that sort of
thing.)
Thank you, Mike and Sandy, for being here
this past year. You've had a tremendous impact upon each of us while guiding
us in a new direction. I ask that God will bless you as you move forward in
your very special, and extremely important, ministry to others.
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Books written by the Dixons are now available in the library. They are:
(If any one would want to purchase any of
these for their own use, please see Mike or Sandy)
From Our Interim Pastor, Michael Dixon
Dear Friends,
A year is almost past, our year together. Jay Jensen commented that in some ways
it seems like a very short time, since we were busy and energized and having
fun, and in another way, much longer than a year, since we developed a depth of
relationship and friendship together—like we’ve known one another for years.
One of the best things about interim ministry is
meeting, getting to know, and working in God’s fields with wonderful people like
you, and learning new things in the process. We have learned from each other. We
have grown together in faith and love. One of the most difficult things about
interim ministry is saying goodbye. And yet saying goodbye well is necessary,
for helps you to say hello to your new future. A big part of saying goodbye is
saying thank you, and hearing the other’s thanks as well. Sandy and I both thank
you for your love and your caring, your spirit and your music, your dedication
to God and your desire to grow in faith. Another big part of saying goodbye is
sharing memories, and we take a treasure trove of those!
An important part of saying goodbye at the end of a
ministry is in acknowledging that the ministry has truly ended, that as of
August 15 I will no longer be your pastor. We will keep you in our prayers, of
course, and will eagerly look forward to reading about you in the New Outlook.
Dr. Stephen Jones will become your pastor, and I will in no way interfere with
the process of that becoming.
The most important part of saying goodbye, though,
is in remembering that it comes from an old English root, and that it’s short
for saying, “God be with you.” It’s a benediction, a blessing, a gift of God’s
presence that we offer one to another.
So goodbye, God be with you, and may God’s grace
and peace be with you always.
Michael Dixon
