A Farewell Message from Former Executive Director Chris Purnell
Chris Purnell
Back in 2008, I told myself that I was probably going to be at the Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic for two years. Eleven years later, I find it excruciating to say goodbye.
As I have grown up at the Clinic, there is so much that I am grateful for. I am grateful for the way that God has changed how I view the gospel. I am grateful that he has shown me more and more of the beauty of Jesus even in the mire of human misery. I am grateful for the clients that I’ve been able to walk alongside. I’m grateful for the leadership that many people have exercised over the years—whether it be the past executive directors and management, or the Board of Directors, or the Clinic staff overall.
There is also much that I will miss. I’ll miss our weekly staff meetings, where we pray together and open Scripture together. I’ll miss the impromptu, “Hey, can I have a minute?” conversations that were often painful-yet-beautiful reminders of how we are a gift to one another to sharpen each other. I’m going to miss the near-constant reminders of God’s provision for the mission as the serendipitous grant or donation came in at just the right time.
But here is what I’ll miss the most: I’m going to miss my friends at the Clinic.
The people here are amazing and the work they do is compelling. To walk with women who are victims of abuse on a daily basis can be exhausting; to reckon with the awful weight of what humans can do to one another can lead to desolation; to advocate for the vulnerable in a world that seems insistent on being insensible can feel isolating. But the Clinic staff believes in the power of a God who cares. This team is bound together by that faith.
That is the residue that remains as I take my last walk out of the doors at 3333 N Meridian Street. I’ll remember the sisters and brothers who delight in seeking justice for the vulnerable because they know that there is a God who delights in it as well. Even when there seems to be an abundance of evidence to the contrary, our staff knows that injustice does not have the final say in history. They know that God, through Christ, is making all things new. And when we all, in different seasons, doubt that, we are able to find someone else in the office who is able to remind us.
Jesus said that there is no greater love than for someone to lay down their life for their friends. He demonstrated this at the cross, laying down his life so that we could find it in him. In their own small ways, my friends at the Clinic make their own sacrifices, whether it be a larger paycheck or a more comfortable existence.
But it is their love and the love of Jesus that keeps them coming back to the office. It is their love that propels them into the fray. And now, they await a person who is called into that same fray of battle-hardened and sacrificial love. The Clinic is accepting applications for a new executive director now, and we pray again for God’s provision of godly, wise, and sound leadership.
May you open yourself to the stirring of God’s Spirit. May you allow yourself to be called to sacrifice alongside friends. And may you know that God provides for the mission he calls you to.
Until justice and peace embrace,
Chris