Pastor Decides It's Time To Leave

BELLEVUE - The Rev. Mark Neuenschwander of the Westminster Chapel, one of the largest churches on the Eastside, says he is resigning at the end of the month after 10 years as senior pastor.

Some members of the congregation were just finding out the news Sunday after returning from vacation, church leaders said.

"I'd say the vast majority are very grieved at his leaving and are still having a hard time with it," said Roger Eigsti, chairman of the church's board of elders.

Eigsti, president and chief executive officer of the SAFECO Corp., said the board would appoint a search committee by the end of the month. He said selection of a new minister probably would take more than six months.

Neuenschwander, 44, who first announced his decision two weeks ago, said he will deliver his last sermon Sept. 27.

"It's been the best 10 years of my life. I couldn't have been more loved. But I have done what God wanted me to do here," said Neuenschwander.

With 1,500 households calling Westminster Chapel home, the Bellevue nondenominational church knows who it is and where it's headed, said Neuenschwander. With that stability, now is a good time for a switch to fresh leadership, he said.

Neuenschwander said he had no other employment lined up. He said his 13-year-old son, Jeffrey, told him, "I don't think you did it right. I think you're supposed to have a job to go to before you leave the one you have," Neuenschwander said.

He said the decision came to him while running recently in a team race from Mount Hood to the Oregon coast. Each person on the 12-member team ran a leg of the race.

"It just became clear to me I was in the middle of a parable where I had run my leg of the race at Westminster. It's been wonderful, but it's time for me to pass the baton."

The Rev. Bob Moorehead, pastor of Overlake Christian Church in Kirkland, the largest Protestant church in the Northwest, said he will miss Neuenschwander as a colleague.

"He is a prince of a fellow, a man of integrity and deep conviction," said Moorehead. "He always made a point to pray for our church and for me. We had the best relationship."

Neuenschwander said he and his family will remain in Redmond for the foreseeable future and he will continue as chairman of the Seattle Association for Theological Education. He is talking to a number of churches but said he is open to work outside the ministry.

Neuenschwander said the church has a staff of 10 ministers who, along with guest ministers, will take over the preaching duties when he leaves.

Neuenschwander, originally from Southern California, is the 28-year-old church's second senior minister. He succeeded the Rev. Wilbur Antisdale, the founding pastor.