Trotter: goodbyes soon after 20+ CUMC years
To thank him for his contributions, the church is hosting a reception in his honor starting at 4 p.m., Sunday, June 11, in its worship center.
Trotter, who began his ministry at Dutch Valley UMC and served at Martel UMC, came to CUMC in 2001 and served as associate pastor for 14 years before taking the reigns as senior pastor.
“When I came to Concord, I was the only full-time associate pastor — there was a part-time pastor of visitation,” he said. “We had two traditional services (8:30 and 11 a.m.) and one contemporary (8:30 a.m.) — in the gym.
“The contemporary service began to grow to the point that we needed to add another service,” he added.
When a Sunday night service in the church gym didn’t “get traction,” Trotter said, “We transitioned the time to Sunday morning at 11. Our worship leader at the time was also the director of music and directed the Chancel Choir.
“Since he couldn’t be in two places at once, and I was already playing guitar and singing on the Sundays (two out of three) I was in contemporary, I became the de facto worship leader,” he added.
“The additional service created a growth spurt, which resulted in the decision to build a new facility (Worship Center) or contemporary worship with space for Student Ministries.”
Additionally, “the church has a history of being welcoming to visitors and passionate about missions,” the retiring senior pastor added.
The church began transitioning for Trotter’s semi-retirement last year, when he asked the denomination’s bishop if Wil Cantrell, long-time assistant pastor, could be named as senior associate pastor in anticipation of being named senior pastor, a request that was granted. The church has moved ahead with Cantrell taking on more responsibilities.
Trotter will continue to serve as senior pastor through Friday, June 30, and will preach June 11 in both services, then preach contemporary only June 18.
He will be moving to Middlebrook Pike UMC — where Trotter and his family were members when he began his career in the ministry 30 years ago following 20 years in radio — as part-time associate pastor, and will be leading contemporary worship.
“It is a perfect scenario for me to continue doing the things I love without the weight of responsibility for a congregation and staff,” he said.
That includes following Trotter’s love of music, which started with learning piano at age 5, trombone at 11 and guitar at 14 — the latter of which has been at the forefront of his leading contemporary worship at CUMC.
While he and his wife, Lynn Trotter, will be leaving CUMC, “I think we will eventually make our way back here,” the pastor added.
“I would also like to say Lynn is and has been a co-partner in my ministry, as she filled in for me as both mother and father when I commuted to Atlanta for seminary for three years. She also listened and supported me through every season of ministry.”
Trotter said one additional administrative pastor, Sabine Collins, will be added to the CUMC staff, as she recently completed seminary and will soon be ordained.
