Retirement Announcement

Dear Friends of Stroud Presbyterian Church,

After much prayerful reflection, I have decided to retire. The last worship service I will conduct will be on Sunday, December 31st, 2023.

To say it has been a joy and a privilege to serve our community as your minister seems a woefully inadequate expression of appreciation to all who have so faithfully supported me in Christian ministry through all the ups and downs of personal, church and community life. While being a minister means being “a servant”, I am truly indebted to the congregation for the many and varied ways in which so many of you have served to encourage and support me to become the minister I am today.

I am gratified to know that in spite of all the challenges we hear about in the news about the church at large, our congregation is well positioned for the future and, I believe, still has a very important role to fulfill in the spiritual leadership and much needed pastoral care of the surrounding community.

The Presbytery of Barrie will be appointing an Interim Moderator who will meet with our very faithful Session to discern a new future ministry at Stroud. I pray that this transition will be met with excitement and the same steadfast Christian faith and loving support that has been expressed to me over so many years. Thank you all so very much!   

Sincerely,

Rev. H. Douglas L. Crocker