On Oct. 31, Thurman Williams, chairman of the Permanent Committee on Mission to North American, announced that the committee had unanimously accepted Paul Hahn’s resignation as MNA Coordinator, “so that he may embrace the role of Interim Pastor (Stated Supply) at Pacific Crossroads Church (PCA) in Los Angeles, CA. The full announcement can be found here.
Hahn will continue to serve as MNA Coordinator through the end of the year. “Our committee will name an Interim Coordinator for MNA by December 2020,” Williams wrote, “and that person will begin work in January 2021. We anticipate having a search plan in place for the new permanent MNA Coordinator by early in the new year, and we will publish the details of the search plan at that time.
“Our hearts at MNA are heavy, because we will all miss Paul. We are sad to see him go. But, we have joy in hearing the story of the Spirit’s calling Fran and Paul to this work, a work which fits very much within MNA’s purview to see the local church strengthened in the gospel to serve, grow and multiply. Paul brought a passion for church renewal to MNA. We are sending him out with joy and hope to pursue that passion in the context of the local church at Pacific Crossroads.
“We are also joyful and expectant over what God has next for MNA. We rejoice in the leadership, direction, passion and love the Lord has given us through Paul, and we look for even better days ahead!”
Hahn: “At heart, I am a pastor”
In an open letter sent to MNA newsletter subscribers (below the letter from Williams), Hahn said that he and his wife Fran will “will pack up and head to LA in January. While preaching some at Pacific Crossroads in November and December, I will continue my work with MNA through the end of 2020.”
Hahn went to on to explain that, “God clearly and distinctly gave to Fran and me a sense of calling for me to serve in this role with MNA. And I have loved deeply what I have gotten to be part of with MNA in this season:
- Meeting so many saints in so many places across the US and Canada — in churches, at conferences and training events, at presbyteries and in network gatherings — and sharing our joy and hope in the gospel together, praying and striving together for the gospel to go down deep in us and out wide from us, in word and in deed.
- Honing a new sense of mission for our work: MNA exists to strengthen the church through the gospel of Jesus to serve, grow and multiply, all for God’s glory.
- Restructuring and re-peopling around that vision, beginning to build and shape ecosystems to multiply church planting and church renewal efforts in spots all across the continent.
- Pivoting to offer nearly all of our content on-line, multiplying our reach many times over.
“I simply love the staff and the mission of MNA! MNA has been my home in the PCA across my entire ministerial journey — when I was a campus minister at Auburn, RUF was part of MNA; I have been a church planter twice over with MNA; I have been a church planting network founder and presbytery chairman with MNA in Texas; I served regionally with MNA in Tennessee; and now these last four plus years as MNA Coordinator. The way I see it, I am continuing with MNA now, in a church renewal role in the local church, where my passion truly resides. At heart, I am a pastor. There has always been a sense, from the very beginning of my time as coordinator, that the Lord might call me back to the local church to preach, to pastor, to evangelize and disciple, to raise up and multiply leadership, to encourage deeds of love and mercy — all in and through the local church. And now he has done just that. You can hear more about our transition here at 11-02-20 Ministry Moment.