Blog: Highrock Online

Dear Church,

It’s with sadness but also a sense of peace that I’m announcing that as of Oct. 1, I will be stepping down from my role at Highrock. While the last few years of juggling school, work, and home responsibilities have been a time when I have seen God at work in incredible ways, they have also taken their toll. Over the past year, I’ve been trying to find a sustainable way to keep wearing all of these hats, but through conversations with trusted mentors and friends, and prayer, it became clear that it is time to resign my position at Highrock to make the margin I need as a parent, spouse, and student.

I am deeply grateful for my time at Highrock and all those who have created space and opportunity for me to learn and grow here. This is a really unique and special community which is why I stayed as long as I did! I feel proud, humbled, and deeply grateful to have served in ministry with the Highrock staff and the Highrock congregations.

I will really really miss serving this community and I am so very very grateful for all that I have been entrusted with by so many of you. It has been such a blessing to accompany you in your life transitions, spiritual questions, and faith formation. Thank you for trusting me with your stories and questions, know that I will always treasure these. I am so grateful to have had the time at Highrock to grow as a preacher, pastor, and follower of Jesus- in all the many forms those things take! So many of you are to thank for that! This has been such a special community to be a part of and this is something else I will always treasure.

Going forward, Pastor Meghan is looking forward to serving you all through providing pastoral care and serving as the point person for the Highrock Online community. You should feel free to reach out to her, and she will help support you, or connect you to the right people for support. Her email is meghand@highrock.org. Michael Mirza (michaelm@highrock.org) will continue to support Highrock Online in a part-time capacity and is developing a gaming ministry- so keep an eye out for more about this really cool offering! Along with that, there are opportunities to connect with others this fall through the Sermon Discussion Group led by Pastor John Mury. You can register for the fall small groups here.

I pray for the thriving of Highrock’s ministries and that God will continue to use the Online congregation as a place where people can meet to share honestly about life and follow Jesus together. I hope that each of you will listen to how God is at work in you and through you to be an expression of love and mercy wherever you are. I didn’t say it enough, but I appreciate all of you and your faithfulness and courage to seek to follow Jesus and how that invites you to know more about who you are and how that invites you to live in the world.

In the next chapter, I’m excited to take all that I’ve learned and discerned through my time at Highrock and allow it to direct my graduate studies at the Boston College School of Theology. If you have any questions, I am available by email until October 1st (abby@highrock.org). Highrock has an incredible team of staff, ministry volunteers, and community members who support one another– I will miss you all dearly and know that you are all in good hands together. God’s story is never finished- I look forward to swapping stories someday to hear all that God has been up to in our lives. Let’s keep being willing to be curious, compassionate, and caring for one another, and in that, we can see God at work.

With Warmth, Gratitude, and Love,

— Abby