It wasn’t an easy decision for Billy Dempsey to make – leaving Grace Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Fort Payne, where he has served as pastor for more than six years.

After receiving an offer a few months ago to join the staff at a church in Jackson, Miss., Dempsey tried to pretend he wasn’t interested. He said he tried hard to talk himself out of it, but ultimately came to the conclusion that he was lying to everybody, “except God.”

Dempsey said he ultimately couldn’t pass up the opportunity, “It was really just too many of the things I like to do all piled up in one job,” he said. “I wasn’t shopping for a move or looking for a job opportunity. This just kind of came out of the blue.”

He said the move is bittersweet – the sweet part is the new job waiting in Jackson, but the bitter part is leaving Grace Presbyterian and Fort Payne behind.

“I’ll definitely miss the people at Grace Presbyterian ,” he said. “They are wonderful, warm, loving and teachable – they will extend themselves to help folks and that’s apparent in the fact they are so busy right now in helping with tornado relief.”

Dempsey said that during his time at Grace Presbyterian, he saw the youth ministry there prosper. “Our people really saw the importance of investing in a ministry that was clearly defined by out kids and any other kids that wanted to participate.”

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(Editor’s Note: Billy Dempsey is a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. He is a graduate of Delta State University (MS) and RTS Jackson. He served as RUF Campus Pastor at both Belhaven College and the University of Missouri. He then served as a pastor in Washington, MO for eight years before moving to Ft. Payne. He will be the new Pastor of Discipleship at First Presbyterian (PCA) in Jackson, MS)