GENOA - The Rev. Larry Bell, who has been the pastor of the United Church of Genoa for the past 16 years, has accepted a new position.

The members of his congregation are going to miss him, but they know he's not going to be very far away, he is the new pastor at the United Church of Auburn.

Bell gave his last sermon in Genoa on Sunday morning and a farewell reception was held in his honor in the church fellowship hall later that afternoon.

Tables were covered with white tablecloths and decorated with blue ribbons and angel ornaments of an assortment of sizes, shapes and styles.

Joyce Lovelace believed it would be a good idea to place a box of tissues on each table for wiping teary eyes.

“He made many contributions while he was here,” said church treasurer Elizabeth Arnold.

She said a search committee has been selected to find a new pastor.

“We've all grown together and formed a lot of friendships over the years,” said Esther Thurston, the co-moderator of the church council, “and he's been right there with us.”

As part of his last service, Bell read from a report of more than 30 highlights of 2006 which he had submitted to the church council.

Included were the establishment of a spiritual book club, the pastor's trip to the Hurricane Katrina disaster area, a camping and climbing trip to the Adirondacks with some of the teens of the church and a storytelling trip where the pastor and his wife followed in the footsteps of St. Paul.

The service also included a section called “Release of Pastoral Vows” a formal ceremony where the pastor is released by the congregation from his duties and obligations as their church leader.

Bell was asked by the Rev. Gary Baker, the Area Minister for the American Baptist regional office, if he believed he had competed his work at Genoa and felt called by God to another ministry.

His answer was: “In love and sadness, I lay down the responsibilities as the pastor of this church, trusting in the grace of God, that he will provide for the next leader of this church.”

Unsuccessfully fighting back tears, Rosalie Ward, the church organist, said, “it's hard to see him go. He became one of us very quickly. He can deal with anyone. He can find common ground and make people feel like they belong here.”

She also said that Bell was unmarried when he first came to the church, and a woman named Annette joined the church some time after that.

“Annette has a smile that could melt snow,” she said. “She and the pastor were married, and she became his rock.”

Being a United Church means that it is a joint congregation of Baptists and Presbyterians. Baker said he will help the church select its new pastor with the help of the Rev. David Johnson, who is an Executive Presbyter with the Presbyterian Church.

“David and I work with six United Churches in the�area,” he said. “We've worked together on a lot of church transitions.”

In a farewell letter, Bell wrote to his congregation, “I am very excited about the new challenges and new opportunities and in Auburn, yet it will be tough to say 'goodbye' to Genoa, my home and place of ministry for the past 16 years.”