Managing editor
Phil Smith is leaving the ministry, including his posts at Valley United Methodist Church in Marion and Lincolnville United Methodist Church, but his faith is stronger than ever.
“This has nothing to do with my faith,” he said. “As crazy as it sounds, it may have strengthened it.”
Smith is leaving the ministry because he doesn’t have the energy to “wear all of the hats” required of a pastor, he said. Job demands have been hard on his family, and he is not financially prepared for retirement.
“This has been one of the hardest decisions of my life,” he said. Smith announced his resignation in November. His last sermon will be June 28.
Smith and his wife, and daughters Allison and Alexa, came to Marion four years ago.
Not a seminary graduate, he was required to follow a course of study prescribed by the United Methodist church. Ministers have up to eight years to complete the five-year program.
Being a full-time minister, husband, and father, while also completing those studies it was difficult, he said.
His life also was influenced by the deaths of his father, mother, and mother-in-law — all within a short period.
“It was a blessing to be a part of a ministry during those times,” Smith said.
But it also added to his burden.
Known for his love of movies, Smith compared his decision to a scene from the movie, “Dances with Wolves,” when Kevin Costner’s character is leaving the tribe because he knows white men are going to find him. By leaving, he was saving the tribe from pain and certain death.
In the movie, a medicine man tells Costner’s character, “You and I have come a long way, and now it is time to part company.”
Smith regards his decision as a move in the right direction.
“The church has been on a good journey,” he said, re-emphasizing that his decision to leave was not based on Marion, Lincolnville, or the church.
Before his appointment in Marion, Smith was a physical therapist in Great Bend and a part-time minister, serving United Methodist churches in the area as needed.
He will return to his earlier profession as a physical therapist, serving nursing home residents in Whitewater, El Dorado, Wichita, and Wellington.
Daughter Allison will begin her third year of optometry school at Southern College of Optometry in Memphis.
He, Sharon, and Alexis will live in an apartment in Wichita but plan to purchase a home in a smaller community near his work.
Smith said he is looking forward to his last day yet dreading it.
Leaving Marion and the congregations he has grown to love is difficult.
“People have been so supportive of us,” he said. “Our time here has been incredible.”
The Rev. Faye Wagoner of Moundridge has been appointed to replace him.