Pastor Davey Blackburn resigns from church three years after first wife’s murder
Some three years after the murder of his first wife inside their home and a year after he remarried, Pastor Davey Blackburn of Resonate Church in Indiana announced on Sunday that he is resigning from his church.
“It’s with a heavy heart, a nervous apprehension, a trusting spirit, and yet an excited anticipation for the future that I must announce that Kristi and I are stepping away as the leaders of Resonate Church. We are doing this in order to answer a call God has placed on our lives to help people from all over the world find purpose in their pain through Nothing is Wasted,” Blackburn announced.
Blackburn, whose first wife Amanda was fatally shot during a home invasion on Nov. 10, 2015, found love again with his current wife Kristi less than a year later and wed at the end of 2017.
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As he grieved his wife’s passing, Blackburn tried to make sense of the death, saying, “God didn't cause this to happen but he allowed it to happen in such a way, he allowed the breath of Amanda to come out of her so that the breath could be breathed into you and into me so that we could advance the Gospel in a way that history books have never even told."
"And I believe it is going to come out of this house. I believe it is gonna come out of our house in Indianapolis. I believe in this region, God's gonna do something from the crossroads of America that's gonna scatter across America, and we're going to see a revival like we have never seen before," he added.
In his statement on Sunday, Blackburn said it had been difficult to manage his new blended family with Kristi, who has a daughter from a previous relationship, while trying to lead a church and two major ministry projects at the same time.
“For a while we thought we could continue all three. But over the last year as we have begun the complicated process of blending our family, we have become increasingly aware that it is not honoring to anyone -- our family or our church family -- to continue to hang on to the notion that we are capable of doing all of these things well. Our family, You, ForIndy, and Nothing is Wasted deserve better than what we are capable to provide to all four in this season,” Blackburn wrote.
He said he consulted with many friends and mentors in ministry along with the church’s staff and they all confirmed that “this seems to be where God is leading the Blackburn family.”
“I share these things with you to help you understand this has been a heart-wrenching, painstaking, and very long process for Kristi and I. This decision was certainly not made emotionally, reactionary, or flippantly. Kris and I have wept. We have prayed. We have begged God for answers. We have sought counsel. We have double-checked and triple-checked in order to be sure of His direction. And over and over, The Lord continues to confirm to us: He’s calling us to step into a new season of ministry,” Blackburn said.
“I understand this is heavy news and may be shocking to many of you. Trust me, we also feel a tremendous weight and grief about all this, and it’s ok to feel that way. Resonate Church and your families have played a very important role in our lives and spiritual growth over the last seven years as I hope we have in yours,” he told his church of his decision. “In this, the eighth year of Resonate Church’s existence, God has a new beginning he wants to stir up in the Blackburn family. Our desire is that we will all look back on the seasons we had together in ministry and remember with fondness how God lit a new passion and desire to seek Him and serve His Kingdom.”
The Indiana pastor and his first wife, Amanda, moved from South Carolina in 2012 to start Resonate Church. On the morning of Nov. 10, 2015 while Davey was away at the gym, police said his late wife was shot three times, including once in the head, during the home invasion. She succumbed to her injuries the following day along with her 13-week-old unborn daughter, Everette "Evie" Grace Blackburn.
