The pastor of one of Charleston's biggest churches is leaving after four and a half years of ministry there, a church leader said.
The Rev. Eric Mounts' last Sunday in the pulpit at Bible Center Church will be this weekend, Lee Walker, the church's interim pastor, said.
Mounts' departure was announced to the congregation Aug. 24, although Walker said church elders and Mounts had been discussing it for about 10 months.
The decision was mutual, Walker said. Mounts and church leaders agreed that the pastor had reached the "maturing point of his effectiveness" at the church, Walker said.
"The greater story is what he accomplished while he was here," Walker said.
While Mounts was at Bible Center, the church launched a new ministry to Mingo County, built a new gymnasium at its school - without adding to the church's debt - and added three international partners to the list of agencies the church supports.
"It's amazing, really, how much he accomplished in these four and half years," Walker said.
Walker said the church, which took on debt to build a new campus at Southridge, has reduced that debt by about $2.2 million during Mounts' time there.
Mounts called Bible Center a great place where God brought together influential people.
"God has brought together folks in law, government, education, medicine, dentistry, what's left of coal, and also the working class, to form a great network of families, children and singles," Mounts wrote in an email to the Gazette-Mail. "It has been my rich privilege over the last four and a half years to preach to them from the Bible and bring God's truth to bear on their great places of influence. That privilege that I have relished will end on Labor Day weekend.
"God loves Bible Center Church," Mounts wrote. "I yearn for God's best for them as he makes Christ known through them in our community. It has been my honor to seek to lead them these last four and a half years."
Walker said a 12-member search committee has been appointed to look for a new pastor. The committee is made up of five people from the church's deacon and elder boards and seven at-large members.
"It will be a nationwide search," Walker said. "Soon there will be a 'pastoral transition' page on our website in order to keep the congregation and community informed on the progress."
Reach Lori Kersey at Lori.kersey@wvgazette.com, 304-348-1240 or follow @Lorikerseywv on Twitter.