Celebration on the Lake Church Pastor Kathy Bowser announced Jan. 18 she would retire in May after leading the congregation for 10 years.

Bowser, 70, will leave the church founded in 2003 by 20 members with a congregation numbering 82, a $250,000 mortgage-free building and a three-year plan to almost double membership and strengthen the church's ties with other churches and philanthropic groups in the Cedar Creek Lake area.

“There is a time to say hello, and there is a time to say goodbye,” Bowser said in a telephone interview this week. “It is now a time for the church to begin again with a new pastor.”

Bowser said she planned to retire last year, but she decided to wait until she guided the congregation through the church's last capital campaign.

The church realized the goal of paying off the mortgage early and burning it in a ceremony Jan. 12. The congregation rid itself of debt on the new building six years after its construction. Three capital campaigns and the sale of property given to the church by a member allowed the quick payoff.

Bowser and her partner, Fluffy Jones, who have owned a weekend home on the lake for 21 years and also own a home in Arlington, plan not to attend church services for a while to allow a new pastor to take over the leadership role and become comfortable.

Retiring makes her sad because so many of the congregation's members are close friends, Bowser said.

The church has already made strong ties to six other churches in the lake area that participated in a Christmas choral performance narrated by retired Channel 8 news anchor and weekender Gloria Campos in December.

Celebration on the Lake Church has a predominanty LGBT membership, but some friends of that community also attend the church. For information see cotl.org.