Pastor Riley Passes on to Glory

Hi friends and family,
We are kind of in shock right now because our dear pastor Robert Riley, who has served as pastor of Southview Baptist Church here in Richfield, MN for thirty years, passed away last night. We are all grieving his sudden death. He was only in his early sixties and was a healthy guy, so his passing was a shocking surprise to us.

Please be in prayer especially for his wife and four children during this difficult time. Even though it's really hard to deal with his dying, we are thankful that Pastor Riley knew Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and that he is now in heaven with his Lord. We praise the Lord as well for the grace He is displaying in the lives of Pastor's family as they work through this time of grieving. We're not grieving for Pastor, because he is in an infinitely better place with God, but for those who were close to him who now miss very much his presence.

Please pray too for his friends and for the church here as we will have to be making some important and difficult decisions in the very near future. Pray that we, and especially the church leadership, will know God's will for these decisions. The funeral will be on Saturday at 1pm at Fourth Baptist Church in Plymouth, MN.

We've talked to many of you and will most likely talk to more, but thank you in advance for your prayers...it's so good that God's people can support each other even from across country through prayer. It really is a blessing for us to know that so many are praying and I'm sure it is for the family as well.

Here are a couple of photos of Pastor Riley from our couple of years with him here at the church...