The following email was sent out by Tim Keller and the Redeemer Session announcing the major change in ministry design.

From: Tim Keller & Redeemer Session
To: Redeemer Members
Re: Redeemer Names New Lead Pastors

Dear Friends,

Since the launch of the RENEW campaign last fall our church has taken several major steps towards realizing the future laid out during the campaign. The vision is to multiply redeemer into several congregations that take responsibility to reach different neighborhoods in Manhattan.

One of the main tasks the elders were given was to search and select new Lead Pastors, each of whom would direct one congregation under my leadership, and who would share the preaching ministry in that congregation with me. For nine months we have looked both within our church and across the country to find these pastors.

We had hoped to find three qualified ministers and therefore our original plan was to launch three redeemers in the near future. However, today we are excited to announce that the search process is complete and we have found four pastors able and called to lead our congregations.

We intend to have one congregation on the East Side, two on the West Side, and one in the southern part of Manhattan. After a tremendous amount of prayer from literally hundreds of people in our congregation and on staff, we feel assured that God has called these four men to be our new Lead Pastors.

Please join the session in giving a warm and excited welcome to:
Rev. David Bisgrove,
Rev. John Lin,
Rev. Scott Sauls and
Rev. Leo Schuster.

Before introducing the men to you below, first please save this date – September 22, 2010 7:00 PM.

On that evening we will hold a special service where we will begin the process of forming four congregations with these lead pastors.

The assignment for each congregation is as follows:

West (South of 83rd) – Rev. David Bisgrove:

David first began attending Redeemer in 1989 and was a founding member, trustee and elder. He began working at Redeemer in 1999 as the Director of Finance and Administration. While serving in that capacity he commuted to Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia where he earned a M.Div. in 2005. Since then David has overseen Worship, Evangelism, Prayer and the Family Ministry. He has led efforts such as The Well, Beta Groups for seekers, and Christianity Uncorked. David also holds an MBA and MPH from Columbia University and prior to joining Redeemer worked for 10 years in finance and administration at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Columbia’s Medical School. David and his wife Alice have two daughters Mary Claire and Charlotte.

South – Rev. John Lin:

John joined Redeemer eight and a half years ago to serve as a Fellowship Group Director. In recent years he has transitioned to a new role where he now oversees the development of a discipleship pathway at Redeemer (including the development of the Gospel in Life discipleship curriculum), membership and mid-sized groups. Prior to coming to New York, he was the English minister of a Korean church in Hartford, Connecticut. He has a M.Div. and Th.M. in biblical theology from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He and his wife Kyoko have one daughter Sophie.

West (North of 83rd) – Rev. Scott Sauls:

Scott Sauls began serving at Redeemer in October, 2007 as the Senior Director of Community Formation. In this role, Scott works with the Directors of Redeemer’s Fellowship Groups, Diaconate, and Counseling ministries. He also facilitates the Elder Shepherding Team. Scott received his BA in Business Administration from Furman University, and a M.Div. from Covenant Theological Seminary. Before coming to Redeemer, Scott spent twelve years in Kansas City and Saint Louis where he planted, organized and was Senior Pastor of two churches. While in Saint Louis, Scott was also an Advanced Homiletics (Preaching) Instructor at Covenant Theological Seminary. He and his wife Patti have two daughters Abigail and Ellie, and two neurotic hamsters named Cookie and Rascal.

East – Rev. Leo Schuster:

Leo is a native Texan with a lifelong love of New York. He graduated from the University of Texas and worked in his father’s financial services firm prior to entering the ministry. He received his seminary education from Dallas Theological Seminary and Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He started the RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) campus ministry at Southern Methodist University and served as the college pastor at Park Cities Presbyterian Church in Dallas from 1993-1996. In 1997 Leo planted Christ the King Presbyterian Church in central Houston and has served there until now as the senior minister of this 1100 member church. He is a founding member and former chairman of the Southwest Church Planting Network and is the Vice Chairman of the Redeemer Theological Seminary Board of Trustees. Leo and his wife Ellen were married in 1988 and are blessed with three daughters: Anna, Margaret, and Mary Caroline.

During the summer we will begin the work of organizing leadership and officers into four distinct teams and over the next 12 months we will need you to step up and serve in the areas you are gifted so that each congregation is ready to launch some time in 2011.

Remember that although we will become four neighborhood-based congregations, we will still be one church under one Session and we will work side by side in many areas of ministry as one unified body seeking to renew this city with the gospel.

I can’t wait to see what God will do next through this extraordinary community he has brought together to live and serve here in NYC.

Thanks so much for praying for this.
Sincerely in Him,
Tim Keller