(By Kate Shellnutt, Christianity Today). Later this year, Redeemer Presbyterian will no longer be a multisite megachurch in Manhattan, and Tim Keller will no longer be its senior pastor.
Keller, 66, announced at all eight Sunday services today that he will be stepping down from the pulpit. The move corresponds with a decades-long plan to transition the single Presbyterian Church in America congregation—which has grown to 5,000 members since it began 28 years ago—into three particular churches.
His last day as senior pastor will be July 1.
This move does not mean retirement for Manhattan’s most popular evangelical pastor and apologist; instead, Keller will work full-time teaching in a partner program with Reformed Theological Seminary and working with Redeemer’s City to City church planting network.
“There’s a certain level of him that’s going to mourn the connection with a congregation and being their pastor,” said Kathy Keller, Tim’s wife and a staff member at Redeemer, in an interview with CT. “It’s a loss. But there’s also something very exciting that he’s going to.”
She said that her husband has been “so wired” to teach seminary courses already, and is excited to dedicate himself to teaching the next generation of pastors.
Because he won’t be preaching anymore, he’ll be involved with more mid-week events, including speaking at Redeemer’s “Questioning Christianity” series and this year’s fall retreats.
“He will probably be speaking the same volume of words as he does now,” Kathy Keller said.