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Pastor leaves First Presbyterian
Citing theological and differences in personal beliefs, Mansour Khajehpour has resigned his post as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Fort Scott.
A former Muslim from Iran, Khajehpour had been with First Presbyterian here since August 2010. During that time, membership increased and new community activities and guests were introduced to the city. The church will now undergo the process of seeking a new pastor.
When he and his wife and two children arrived here, Khajehpour said they were sure it was a calling from God. He planned to retire in Fort Scott, but recently he felt God was telling him it was time to take a different direction.
He has also associated himself with a group called Fellowship of Presbyterians, which formed in January 2011.
The group began in as a conversation between seven Presbyterian Church USA pastors who wanted to find new ways to encourage each other in common faith, ministry and mission, its website said.
These pastors were concerned about the health of the PC (USA) as a denomination, where membership has dropped steadily over 40 years and ongoing disputes over theology and bureaucracy create a culture of contention more than vitality, the site said.
"I believe the church is the body of Christ. It is so dear to Jesus, and therefore to me, to the point that anything that might hurt the body of Christ I do my best to stay away from it," Khajehpour said in an interview. "For that reason, at this time of my life I prefer to be silent about the reasons and causes that led me to resigning as pastor of this church.
"Having said this, I would like to focus on the positive and encouraging experiences we gained by living and serving in Fort Scott and also the great things that are happening in our lives as a family these days.
"In 2010, when we came, we were absolutely clear that it was a call from God. Why God allowed this relationship to end at this time is a question for God. However, according to Romans 8:28 we are absolutely certain that God will use this event to continue blessing the church in Fort Scott and my family. But I'm certain (of what) Joshua said in Chapter 24, Verse 15, that regardless of place and time my family and I have dedicated our life to serve and worship God," Khajehpour said.
Forty-five new members have also joined First Presbyterian in the 18 months Khajehpour was on board. Previously, the church attracted an average of two to three members a year. This is one of the things Khajehpour said shows his ministry was valid. "Our personality and the theological differences with a few members of the church convinced me to make this hard decision to avoid further fragmentation of the church," he said. "Another sign of hope is that the Presbyterian Church in Fort Scott has been here 152 years and I am sure as long as the church keeps her faith in the word, Jesus and the centrality of the Bible, its existence will continue and its growth both deep and wide will be gathered, guaranteed. We should remember, the trick is the centrality of our faith in Jesus Christ and on the scripture. Pastors and members come and go, but the church will be there as long as there are passionate Christian believers following God's direction and Holy Spirit. To the people who are remaining faithful, I want to encourage them by saying what Jesus said: Look, I told you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are wide for harvest (Luke 35, John 4:35). To those people I say look around and see that there is a lot of work to be done in Fort Scott to share the good news with many who have not heard that good news yet."
God is now calling him to take a different direction in his life. In the short term, Khajehpour and his family are worshiping at other churches in the region. He preaches at some of them and at others, he just attends. He will also distribute more Farsi Bibles around the world while waiting for his next pastoral call.
In the mid-term, Khajehpour has signed four contracts to teach and train people in person and through television ministries in Los Angeles, London, Bethlehem and Yerevan, Armenia.
He is also writing articles and an autobiography, which he is calling "The Learning Grass," after Gordon Parks' "The Learning Tree."
"In that book, I'm talking about different native grasses grown in Kansas and those that have come here and been adapted and my experience being a grass that came to be rooted here in Kansas," he said.
Following his decision to leave First Presbyterian, Khajehpour said countless church and community members have visited, supported and stood by him and his family, "which has indeed helped us to experience God's peace and healing."
"To all of them, I bow down and thank God for them. ...," he said.
K.O. Noonoo, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Pittsburg and liaison between the church and John Calvin Presbytery, which the Fort Scott church is part of, said the local church will be selecting a designated pastor.
A church information form will be submitted to the stated clerk of the John Calvin Presbytery in Springfield, Mo. The stated clerk, Melana Scruggs, will approve or offer comment on that form. If everything goes well, the church here will file the church information form online. The stated clerk will then approve certain resumes of pastors and may forward five or six of them to a pastoral search team, which the church has elected to look for a new pastor.
That team will go through the resumes and make a recommendation to the rest of the church, Noonoo said.
Typically, a congregation calls its pastor, a process that takes two to four years. The search team in that instance, reports directly to the congregation. "In this case, they are getting a designated pastor -- a pastor that has agreed to serve this church for a set period of time. In this case, two years. Sometime around that two-year mark, both the church and the pastor will reevaluate whether it's working out well or not. If it's working out well, that pastor can be a called pastor," Noonoo said.