How long to leave current church well

Hello,

I’ve decided I would like to be a part of the Orthodox church. After many years of looking at some things in Protestant theology and going “this just doesn’t add up, it doesn’t make sense”, I stumbled into orthodox theology and for the first time everything made sense. And it was so, I don’t know, I think the best word I can use is beautiful. It was just so beautiful, like curtains had been parted and the beauty of God revealed.

I am talking with a local Orthodox Priest and he has provided some helpful guidance. He also suggested I seek out others who have done the same thing to ask about leaving my current church well. I’m an elder, it will leave a hole and I don’t want to hurt people, I want to be encouraging to them. These are people I’ve walked with through many a life crisis for many years.

Side note, the Priest also said take anything on the internet with a grain of salt because internet Orthodoxy is often not an accurate representation.

Does anyone have any advice on how to leave well, how to be encouraging to people who are sincerely seeking God but are at a different place on that path as I leave, how to do it in love?

Thank you very much for your time and help.

EDIT: I can’t figure out how to get rid of the word “long” in the title, that is a typo.