Tim Keller to resign as senior pastor at Redeemer Church

Leading evangelical Pastor Tim Keller has announced that he will no longer serve as the senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.

Keller, the author of "The Reason for God" and co-founder of The Gospel Coalition (TGC), went to all eight services at three Redeemer campuses in Manhattan on Sunday to announce his decision to step down from the pulpit.

His last day as the senior pastor of Redeemer will be July 1, according to Bethany Jenkins, a church member who directs a faith and work initiative for TGC.

Although the Keller is stepping down as the senior pastor, he will not be retiring from the ministry. The 66-year-old pastor will be working full-time to teach in a partner program with Reformed Theological Seminary. He will also be working with Redeemer's City to City church planting network, Christianity Today reported.

"There's a certain level of him that's going to mourn the connection with a congregation and being their pastor," Keller's wife Kathy remarked. "It's a loss. But there's also something very exciting that he's going to," she added.

Keller will no longer be preaching, but he will still be involved in speaking events including Redeemer's "Questioning Christianity" and this year's fall retreats. "He will probably be speaking the same volume of words as he does now," Kathy said.

Keller's decision corresponds with a decades-long plan to transition the single congregation of Redeemer into three particular churches. Each of the three Redeemer churches will become their own congregations with their own leaders and elders, but they will still partner together for programs.

Redeemer also aims to plant churches in three more locations starting with Redeemer Lincoln Square, which will be launching on Easter Sunday.

Keller, along with his wife and three young sons, started Redeemer in 1989. Its diverse congregation of young professionals has grown to a weekly attendance of over 5,000 after more than 20 years. The Redeemer City to City church planting program, where he serves as a chairman, has launched 381 churches in 54 cities worldwide.

He has been dubbed as "the most successful evangelist in the city" by New York magazine due to his influence among young professionals.