A Message from the Reverend Dr. Thomas K. Tewell

Dear Friends of Macedonian Ministry,

For the past ten years, it has been my privilege to serve as Executive Director of Macedonian Ministry. I am humbled to have founded a ministry that has grown from a cohort of 17 Presbyterian pastors in 2008 to 28 cohorts of 402 pastors representing 16 different denominations across America and Scotland. Macedonian Ministry has been blessed with a magnificent staff, an outstanding Board of Directors, a wise and discerning Advisory Board, gifted mentors for each of our cohorts, and generous donors, without whom our ministry would not have expanded as it has. By God’s grace, Macedonian Ministry is thriving in every way! It has been an incredibly fulfilling ten years!

When I founded MM, my hope and prayer was to lay the foundation for a ministry that would continue to thrive well beyond my tenure of leadership. I believe that this is the right time to hand the baton to a younger leader who can build on the foundation that my team and I have laid. I have been discussing all of this with our Board of Directors, Advisory Board, and staff in recent months. During these conversations, the Macedonian Ministry Board asked me to recommend a person to be my successor, believing that I am in the best position to know what gifts and skills are essential to do this job well. I am delighted to announce that our MM Board has voted unanimously to call the person I enthusiastically recommended to be my successor… Reverend Mark Ramsey, Pastor of West Lake Hills Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas! Mark will become Executive Director of Macedonian Ministry on January 1, 2018.

I believe that Mark’s entire life and ministry have beautifully prepared him for this new role. Mark has served with distinction as pastor of congregations in Michigan, Colorado, Illinois, North Carolina, and Texas. He is a natural-born mentor and a gifted preacher who many pastors seek out for advice and counsel. Sixteen of the pastors he has supervised are currently heads of staff at congregations across America. In short, I can’t think of a finer person to be my successor than Mark Ramsey!

Mark will move to Atlanta this Fall and will take some time for “onboarding” as he visits all of the current Macedonian Ministry groups before assuming his new role on January 1, 2018. At that time, I will become “Founder and Faculty Member” with some strategic tasks and speaking engagements that I want to complete before I retire from Macedonian Ministry at the end of May 2018. At Mark’s and the Board’s request, I will continue to be the Founder and a Faculty Member of MM after I retire and will be available for leadership assignments, at Mark’s invitation, in the future. I believe in Macedonian Ministry, and I want to bless this organization in every way that I can!

On a personal note, my wife Suzanne and I are looking forward to spending more time with our family, and I am already starting to imagine “my next season” of ministry, which I hope will include more sustained opportunities for preaching and teaching. I could not be more excited about the future of Macedonian Ministry under Mark Ramsey’s leadership, and I am excited about the Tewell’s future too! Thanks be to God from whom all blessings flow!

With overflowing joy and anticipation,

 

 

 

 

Tom

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The Origins of Macedonian Ministry

Macedonian Ministry began in the fall of 2008, as a small pilot project in Atlanta, GA, with the goal of helping pastors become more faithful and effective leaders in their congregations and local communities. The concept was developed by the Rev. Dr. Tom Tewell, along with the support of Tom and Ann Cousins and the CF Foundation.

“I believe that the greatest days in the history of Macedonian Ministry are in front of us. In fact, I am standing on my tiptoes to see what Macedonian Ministry is going to become under Mark Ramsey’s gifted leadership!” 

– Reverend Dr. Thomas K. Tewell

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