A Letter from Robert Frazier, Watertown Campus Pastor

It has been an awesome close to 3 years at Grace Chapel in Watertown. We started with a great group of people that came from Lexington, and a group from Community Church of Watertown, and many of you joined us along the way, moving to the area, re-starting or starting your walk with God, or just joining with your family in our church-community.

Malia and I have poured our lives into Watertown. And it has been a joy. God has done some great things around our campus, and after six years in Massachusetts we were ready to settle in for the long haul, but God had some different plans. Over the last year we have been in a process discerning God's will as we have sensed that he was calling us into a different direction.

We think that God is leading us to plant more churches. He has uniquely made us to start things, and to reach out to unchurched people, and we have so enjoyed serving alongside you in reaching our friends together in the Watertown area. As we have prayed and searched, we just can't get this burden for the people of the Pacific Northwest out of our minds. We feel called to go back to Boise, Idaho and be a part of a movement of gospel centered churches that plant churches across the northwest, one of the least churched regions of the country.

When we came to Massachusetts, we were pretty beat up spiritually, but God in His great mercy, brought us to Grace Chapel where we found a great, healthy church. And He not only got us involved, but brought us to volunteer, join staff and even lead a campus. We have loved every minute. It has become our church home, and we want to take the great stuff that we have learned here and bring it with us in our church planting.

We plan on moving late this summer (August/September) out west. There will be a search to replace me as the campus pastor starting right away for the Watertown congregation. God has a great plan for the right leader and shepherd to lead this community in the next phase of growth.

The strength in the congregation is not the leader or the leader's personality. It is in the connections, the commitment of the community to live and serve and be on mission together. On all those measurements, Watertown is a strong community.  We are sad that we won't be a part of the next stage but we can see that God has positioned Watertown for this next stage of growth and vitality going forward.

We wanted to tell you each individually about this news but time just would not permit it. If you want to talk some more, we would love to share the ways that God has worked through this process and what you all mean to us.

There are a lot of great things happening in Watertown and we are glad to have the next few months to prepare for a strong transition and continue to build the ministries that are already going strong.

With a full heart of gratitude for all God has done and will do,

Robert and Malia