Andy Stanley宣布明年卸任North Point主任牧师：1995年创办该教会 长老会提名Joel Thomas接任
佐治亚州 Alpharetta 的 North Point Community Church 创办牧师 Andy Stanley 已向会众宣布，将于明年卸任主任牧师。据 Christian Post 报道，现年68岁的 Stanley 在向教会发表的信息中表示，他计划于1月卸下 North Point Ministries 主任牧师职务，并在6月、即69岁生日之际卸下 North Point Community Church 主领牧师职务。
Stanley 表示，这一过渡是他主动作出的决定，一个重要原因是希望能「对孙辈说『好』，而不必先查看自己的日程」。他同时表示，下一个阶段需要一位更年轻的领袖、能把异象投射得更远。卸任后他将继续担任教会长老，并仍会不定期讲道。North Point Ministries 是以 Atlanta 地区为基地的多堂点教会网络，North Point Community Church 是其位于 Alpharetta 的堂点。
教会长老会已提名 North Point Ministries 执行主任 Joel Thomas 接任，会众投票现正开放至10月30日（周五），结果将于11月1日公布。Thomas 1998年成为 North Point Ministries 首位实习生，2011年至2015年曾任 North Point Community Church 主领牧师，其后在 Arizona 的 Mission Community Church 任主任牧师，2021年返回 Atlanta 地区。Andy Stanley 是已故南浸信会牧师 Charles Stanley 之子，1995年创办 North Point Community Church，该教会现已发展为8个本地堂点及数百间全球伙伴教会。据北点事工公布的交接时间表，会众投票于10月30日下午5时截止；如提名通过，Joel Thomas 将于2027年1月1日出任北点事工主任牧师，并于2027年6月1日出任北点社区教会主任牧师。Stanley 表示：「我退休的是我的职位，不是从事工退休。」他与妻子 Sandra 约四年前开始讨论这次交接。Thomas 2021年回到 Atlanta 都会区出任 Buckhead Church 主任牧师，2023年起兼任北点事工执行主任。据 Religion News Service 报道，北点教会网络每周参加实体敬拜的人数约3.7万人，在《Outreach》杂志全美百大教会名单中列第六位。（GSM 据 Christian Post 报道）
Andy Stanley to Step Down as North Point Senior Pastor in 2027, Joel Thomas Nominated to Succeed Him
Andy Stanley, founding pastor of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, has told his congregation he will step down as senior pastor next year. According to the Christian Post, Stanley, 68, said in a message to his church that he plans to step down as senior pastor of North Point Ministries in January and as lead pastor of North Point Community Church in June, around his 69th birthday.
Stanley said the transition was his own choice, and that a major reason was wanting 'to be able to say yes to my grandchildren without having to check my schedule.' He added that the next phase requires a younger leader who can project a vision further out, given his age and season of life. After stepping down he will remain a church elder and will still preach periodically. North Point Ministries is the Atlanta-area multisite church network, and North Point Community Church is its campus in Alpharetta, Georgia.
The board of elders has nominated Joel Thomas, executive director of North Point Ministries, to succeed Stanley, subject to a congregational vote now open through Friday, October 30, with results to be announced November 1. Thomas began as North Point Ministries' first intern in 1998, served as lead pastor of North Point Community Church from 2011 to 2015, then served as senior pastor of Mission Community Church in Arizona before returning to the Atlanta area in 2021. Andy Stanley, son of the late Southern Baptist pastor Charles Stanley, founded North Point Community Church in 1995; it has grown to eight local campuses and hundreds of global partner churches.
Under the timetable published by North Point Ministries, voting closes at 5 p.m. on October 30; if approved, Joel Thomas will become senior pastor of North Point Ministries on January 1, 2027, and lead pastor of North Point Community Church on June 1, 2027. 'I'm retiring from my job, but I'm not retiring from ministry,' Stanley said; he and his wife, Sandra, began discussing the transition about four and a half years ago. Thomas returned to the Atlanta area in 2021 to lead Buckhead Church and has served as executive director of North Point Ministries since 2023. According to Religion News Service, the North Point network reports about 37,000 weekly in-person worshippers and ranks sixth on Outreach magazine's list of the 100 largest U.S. churches. (GSM, based on reporting by the Christian Post)
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：Andy Stanley 本人（2018年资料图），来源 Wikimedia Commons，CC BY 4.0。Photo: Andy Stanley (2018 file photo), via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
