The Rev. Jerome “Bo” Weed has resigned as pastor of Southside Baptist Church in Troy effective Dec. 31, 2009.

Weed said his resignation probably came as a shock to most members of the church but the decision was not made without much prayer and thought.

“It was a tough decision and wasn’t made hastily,” Weed said. “It took me about a year to come to this decision but, when making a decision of this magnitude, there are so many intangibles. There were no arguments, no battles to be fought. I just sensed it.”

When Weed steps from behind the pulpit seven Sundays from now, he will be one week shy of pastoring Southside for seven years.

“Southside has been a good ministry,” he said. “But there just comes a time when there is a need for a new vision and a new spirit in a church. You become aware that the members will respond to the leadership of a new pastor. They need someone new to follow and someone new to lead.”

Weed said he believes that God has new opportunities waiting for him.

“I don’t believe that, right now, we will leave Troy,” he said. “There will hopefully be opportunities for me to supply preach and I will be open and available to God’s call as I always have been. God will be glorified in whatever I do.”

Weed said his ministry has always been “kingdom work.”

“I never have thought that my ministry was to be just about one church,” he said. “I have tired to always be available to the community and I will continue to do that. I want to be a part of the Troy and Pike County communities and I want to be a voice in those communities.”

Weed and his family will continue their memberships at Southside and, unless his presence becomes a “distraction,” Weed will be in attendance unless he is invited to preach at other churches.

Weed is originally from Midland City. He attended Troy University and worked in Texas as a longshoreman and with Taco Bell before moving to Lake Charles, La. where he answered God’s call.

He attended the Baptist Bible Institute in Graceville, Fla. and served six years as youth minister in Dothan before being called to Southside Baptist Church.

“I’m appreciative that I have always had the privilege of being a voice in the community and of the opportunities I’ve had to be involved in the many activities and events,” Weed said.

“I have enjoyed the encouragement and support of other pastors and hope to be a source of encouragement and support to them. I want to be ‘a light in the darkness’ when there is a need. I want to be a part of this wondrful community until God has other plans for me.”