Citing a simple desire to heed an unexpected call from a higher power, the Rev. Steve Bryant is leaving his post as pastor of First Presbyterian Church to lead Grace Chapel Presbyterian Church in Madison.

Bryant, 41, a visible and active member of the community in Vicksburg since becoming pastor 11 years ago, said he told church elders of his decision at a meeting last Tuesday.

&#8220I just have a deep sense that this is what God is leading me to do,” Bryant said.

Bryant has had close ties with Grace Chapel Presbyterian Church since its inception in 1994. He helped develop its mission statement in 2003 and has led overseas leadership retreats for its elders.

The church has gone without an installed pastor for the past year and a half since the departure of its last interim pastor.

Bryant said he is both &#8220excited and grieving” over his new opportunity.

&#8220I love this community very much and how we were allowed to be a part of things here,” he said.

Bryant said he hopes to establish the kind of active and wide-ranging ministry in Madison that he led at First Presbyterian, accomplished primarily through his many contacts in the Presbyterian church throughout the South.

&#8220No other church has come close to the level of missionary work we have done here,” Bryant said.

Much of that was put to use in the weeks following Hurricane Katrina when a $70,000 anonymous donation helped spur a relief effort that eventually topped $70 million.

For weeks, the church rented 18-wheelers to ferry donated supplies of every type from generators to cleaning supplies to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Bryant said the church is still funding a supply distribution site in Bay St. Louis and has been making periodic runs of drywall and other building materials to Gautier.

Bryant’s wife, Elizabeth, and their three children, 17-year-old Steve Jr., 14-year-old Harrison and 12-year-old Emily will be making the move to Madison in time for his installation as pastor April 23, the week following his final one here on Easter Sunday.

In 2001, the Bryants co-founded Jacob’s Ladder Learning Center, a first-of-its-kind school in western Mississippi for mentally challenged youths. Bryant said the school, now a nonprofit funded by tuition, scholarships and memorial donations, will &#8220not miss a beat” and will continue being run by its current board of directors.

Elizabeth Bryant will continue to be a co-owner of Sincerely Yours, a wedding invitation and stationery business that had operated out of Jacob’s Ladder’s property until about a year ago. The business will look to expand in Jackson and the surrounding area, Bryant said.

An interim pastor will likely be named by elders at First Presbyterian, Bryant said, in anticipation of a search committee that will be named as part of a process by the faith’s national arm, Presbyterian Church USA.

Bryant said he will also resign his seat on the city’s Board of Architectural Review in the coming weeks.

First Presbyterian Church of Vicksburg was founded in 1826 and first ministered by Zebulon Butler, a Pennsylvania native. With about 700 active members, it is the largest church in the Mississippi Presbytery.

Grace Baptist Presbyterian Church in Madison has a congregation of about 180, Bryant said.

Bryant noted that challenges faced by the church in its infant stages in Vicksburg are similar to ones faced by Grace Chapel.

&#8220But I believe God has great blessings in store for this church here and a person will become pastor who has gifts I don’t have,” he said. &#8220I’m just moving down the road a little ways.”