A Southern Baptist megachurch pastor resigned suddenly last week, preaching his last sermon just days after announcing he would step down. While George Wright did not provide any details regarding the reason for his departure from Shades Mountain Baptist Church, he clarified that he was not leaving due to a personal moral failure.
According to AL.com, Shades Mountain Baptist Church is a 7,800-member congregation in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. Wright had been pastor of the church since 2021.
Shade Mountain Baptist Church is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).
In a video announcement that was posted to the church’s Facebook page on Friday (May 1), Wright said that he wanted to share “an announcement about our family and the future of the church.”
“Over the past couple weeks, it has become clear to us that our time here at Shades is coming to an end. And this Sunday, I will preach my final sermon as your pastor,” said Wright. “I want you to know our leadership is resolved and committed to pursue the next pastor of Shades for a new season of ministry.”
“As heartbreaking as this has been for our family, we are trusting the Lord to lead us in this season. And we know that he is in control,” he continued. “Our plan and our desire was to be here at Shades for many years to come. But we are trusting that God’s ways are higher, and his plan is better for the future of his church and the future of our family.”
“I do want to make clear that we do love Shades Mountain, and we love you. And we are praying that God will use this new season in his church and in our family to exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ask or imagine,” Wright went on to say.
Wright said that the “purpose statement” of his life is “to love and worship King Jesus by faithfully loving and serving my family, preaching God’s Word, and pursuing his mission all the days of my life.” He added, “That will continue. There is nothing in my life that disqualifies me or is preventing me from living out this purpose and pursuing God’s calling.”
“And I am more passionate and committed right now to live out this purpose than I’ve ever been,” said Wright. “And we are trusting God to show us what this will mean for our family in a new season as we seek to continue to leverage our lives for the sake of the gospel wherever we are and wherever God takes us.”
At the beginning of his final sermon on Sunday (May 3), Wright said, “There are times when all we can do is worship our way through it. When we don’t know exactly what to say, when we’re not even sure how to pray, through the power of the Holy Spirit of God, we worship our way through it.”
