Join us in honoring Tim Sitterley, who retired from employment with GCI in January 2025.
We are very grateful to you for your love and faithful service to the bride of Christ, Tim.
We asked Tim to share his reflections.
To be honest, I had not spent much time in retrospective thought since retiring from employment with GCI back in January. That old joke that I would be busier now than when I worked full-time proved to be far more accurate than I ever imagined. But the one thing I’ve found I missed from my years as a pastor and then as a regional director was the interaction with an almost endless number of incredible people.
As a senior pastor, I had the opportunity to come to know the members in my congregations at an intimate level few achieve outside of immediate family. Anyone who has ever pastored for any period of time comes to understand why the early church adopted the title “Father” for their clergy. The feelings of love and responsibility for the people God has called you to serve overshadows all other aspects of the job. Young or old, you can’t shake the fact that they all have become your spiritual children. You celebrate with them, and you weep with and for them. You are there for them during some of the most important events in their lives. And you speak encouragement and hope to their family and friends when they have passed on.
When I became the director of the western United States, that familial relationship expanded to a level I could not have imagined. I developed a habit of taking a photograph from the pulpit of the congregations I spoke to, and in looking back at that collection of pictures, I see so many people who have now become an extended part of my life. Whether it was Anchorage, Seattle, Sacramento, or San Diego, these were now my people, and I know I could walk into any of the congregations from my former region and be greeted as a long-lost friend.
The icing on the cake was the international relationships I was blessed to make. From island hopping in the Caribbean in the early days of my employment, to leading “pilgrims” to the Holy Land in the final years, I saw much more of the world than a farm-boy from Pennsylvania could have ever imagined. One of the highlights was the time I was able to spend in the Philippines, and the opportunity to facilitate CORE training with many of our current leaders there and in India. Even today, a good portion of my Facebook posts are in Tagalog, and due to the dateline shift, I start getting birthday wishes the day before my actual birthday.
I will continue to serve in my local congregation as an assistant pastor, worship leader, and musician. I have taken a part-time position working with the local business community. And I definitely don’t miss getting on airplanes at 5:00 a.m. on a regular basis. But I do miss what waited for me on the other end of those flights — people who made my job a joy and a blessing.
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