Dear Sisters and Brothers of the First Baptist Church of Weslaco, We are so excited to be coming to serve alongside you. The Lord has blessed us in so many ways. We have sensed Christ's presence as we have prayed for God's leadership in regard to this calling. I would like to personally thank the search committee for the prayers that have guided their hearts and minds throughout this process. I would like to thank the deacon body, church planning council, staff, and other leadership groups for the thoughtful questions they asked as a part of the "in view of a call weekend." I am grateful for the faithful work of the pastors and staff over the past year and all that they have done to make our transition a smooth one. Joe Aguilar made a really interesting statement during one of our meetings a few months ago. He said, "Pastor, I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but I've really enjoyed this time we've had without a pastor. It's like we've remembered how to do ministry again." I think Joe hit the nail on the head. Ministry is a team sport. Ministry is not just about who our pastor is and what he is doing. Ministry is about all of us doing our part to grow in Christ and to help others grow in Christ. I am excited about this opportunity to come and be a part of First Baptist Church of Weslaco, working closely with all of you in service to Christ's kingdom in the coming years! I thought it would be good to give you an idea of what our plans are during this time of transition. I spoke to the deacons in Cotulla and we agreed that a four week period would help conclude our ministry efforts here and give them time to secure an interim pastor. My last Sunday here will be February 3rd. They have graciously given me the opportunity to leave most of our things behind in Cotulla while we are working to close on a house so that we don't have to put them in storage. Hopefully we can get a group of men together to come back after our things when we are ready to move into our home in Weslaco. We will come down after I preach on February 3rd and work to get Morgan registered in school and to settle into a new setting. We are planning to attend church in Weslaco on February 10th so that we can get a good feel for the flow of your worship services, get to meet more of you, worship together with you, hear Chris preach, and officially become a part of your church family. Then I hope to hit the ground running with a full schedule on Monday February 11th and my first sermon as your senior pastor will be on February 17th. We covet your prayers as we prepare to move and start a new chapter of our ministry. This is the first time we've moved with a child in school, so we are praying that this transition will go smoothly for Morgan. Nathan is just excited about coming to the “gym church.” Both of our kids are really looking forward to seeing more of their Nanna, Poppi, and Peepaw. Moving back to the Valley will be a real home coming for our family and we praise God for that. We are so humbled by the confidence you have placed in us. I take this calling very seriously and want to do my very best to serve alongside you with integrity and love. I pray that God will bless all of us as we grow together in service to Christ's kingdom. Thank you so much for the hospitality and grace you have already shown us. We can't wait to get there so we can begin to learn from each other and grow together as a family of faith! During this transition time, if you need to get in touch with me for any reason, I can be reached on my cell 830-879-5950, at home 830-879-2256, or at the church 830-879-3615. I also am now able to access email at both skparker76@sbcglobal.net  and sparker@firstweslaco.org. I am truly honored to be your pastor. First Baptist Weslaco is clearly a church full of capable, loving servants of Christ. I look forward to serving with your other pastors, staff, lay leaders, and members. Hopefully together we can do great things for God's kingdom in Weslaco, the Rio Grande Valley, the borderlands, and to the ends of the earth. May God bless us in mighty ways as we do our best for His kingdom! In Christ, Steven Parker