Pastoral Update

Hello Church! Beloved Faith Family...

It is with a heart full of gratitude, love, and deep emotion that I share with you an important update in the life of our church and my own call as a disciple of Christ.

After a season of prayerful discernment, I have accepted a new call to serve as Equipping Presbyter and Stated Clerk with the Presbytery of Florida. This means that, effective April 30, 2026, I will be stepping down from my role as Pastor and Head of Staff of First Presbyterian Church of Eustis.

Watch Pastor Mario share this update in a video message.

The process with the Florida Presbytery (Tallahassee to the Panhandle) began in early February and quickly became a real and prayerful conversation. Today, April 8th I can share with you that they have called me to this new role, beginning May 1. This next chapter will allow me to serve the wider Church—walking alongside 35 congregations, supporting pastors and leaders, and helping navigate both opportunities and challenges in ministry.

Please hear this clearly: this decision is not about something that happened in Eustis, nor is it because of anything you did or did not do. I love you deeply. This church, our church has been, and will always be, a place of purpose, growth, and shared ministry for me and my family. This is simply a call that I believe comes from God—one that I receive with both humility and trust, even as it asks me to step away from a community I cherish. So in many ways I will step down from being a pastor to a specific congregation, to become a pastor to pastors within the PCUSA.

As we enter this transition together, your Session has already begun to take faithful and thoughtful steps. Throughout the month of April, the Session will meet every Tuesday to help coordinate this transition and ensure that the church is supported every step of the way. These additional meetings will complement their regular stated Session meeting, which will still take place on the fourth Tuesday of the month. This rhythm allows for both continuity and intentional care during this important season.

Additionally, the Session has called for a Special Congregational Meeting on Sunday, April 26, immediately following worship, for the purpose of voting on the dissolution of the pastoral relationship between this pastor and First Presbyterian Church of Eustis, as is our Presbyterian practice.

I know this news may bring many emotions—gratitude, sadness, questions, even uncertainty—and all of those are welcome. I encourage you to share them, to talk, to pray, and to lean into one another as the body of Christ.

Please know this: I am still your pastor through April 30, and will remain preaching tru the month of April. I remain committed to you, to preaching, to walking alongside you, and to finishing this chapter of ministry with faithfulness and love.

Beloved church, you have always been strong—not because of any one person, but because of your love for Christ and for one another. That will continue. God is not finished with you. In fact, I trust that God is already preparing what comes next.

Thank you for allowing me to serve alongside you, to grow with you, and to love you.

Be of good courage, and know that you are deeply loved.

Count it all joy,

Pastor Mario Bolivar

352-357-2833