All my life I’ve tried to avoid churches without a senior pastor or even an interim senior pastor. I viewed these “leaderless churches” as unstable (at least temporarily) and unfit for my lifestyle. As I started searching for a church to join while in college, it became even more important that I find a church that had solid, grounded leadership. I felt that the staff would be more invested in helping me if they were full-time pastors.

That is, until David Platt announced his transition from senior pastor of The Church at Brook Hills to president of the International Mission Board (IMB). And I just declared my membership at Brook Hills last semester.

As I read the news and watched the video of David Platt explaining his calling to the IMB, I couldn’t help but think, “Great. He’s leaving the church pastorless. He’s leaving all of the members without a leader. Should I switch my membership to another church?”

And then he started naming all of the other pastors on staff. The Church at Brook Hills is not leaderless. And something else I’ve realized is that even if every other staff member was called to a different church, we still wouldn’t be left without a leader.

The Church is the entire body of Christians coming together under the leadership of Christ.

And yes, God has called specific people to lead the church as pastors and deacons (or elders) but He is the ultimate leader of the entire body of Christians.

I’ve been told this fact several times in Sunday School but it never stuck with me. I wasn’t able to understand just what it meant. I’m so thankful for David Platt and all that he did for The Church at Brook Hills. And I’m excited to experience a new pastor. But overall, I’m glad that this opportunity presented itself at this moment because I was able to see how God will never leave the Church without a leader.

Hannah Muñoz, The Rope Contributor