Individual Surveys on Pastor Qualities will be handed out starting June 26th, and continue through the next two Sundays. The purpose of the surveys is to provided the search team with further information about the congregation's preferences and desires.
The survey is brief, consisting of one page, front & back, and should take less than five minutes to complete.
The search team is also putting together information on the community and the church and its programs. We also will be working on candidate letters and the travel budget for candidates.
Our target is to be ready to consider candidates' resumes and Cov Connect profiles by late summer or early fall.
We still covet your continued prayer support.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Moving Forward toward Candidate Names
We are starting to make progress toward actual candidate names at this point in the search. First, however, the search team has a few projects to complete.
The search team wants to have each individual in the congregation complete a survey about the future pastor. What strengths in ministry does this person have? How old? What kind of programs would be implemented? Our hope is that this survey will be completed within the next month or so.
We also need to work on gathering information about Mason City itself to provide to prospective candidates. This also means the church needs to finish updating its website (where potential candidates and their families will investigate us!) and our video overview of the church needs to be made.
One important note before an overview of the process from here is given: the search team can "start over" from any of these points if there is not a desired candidate. In other words, if the search team doesn't click with the first few names given, even after interviews, the process will continue with another round of names.
After these tasks are completed, the search team will receive the names of potential candidates from the Superintendent. Right now, we are striving to have this step occur in mid-July. Once we have the names, a letter will be sent to our top candidates, with the invitation to complete an introductory phone interview with the search team.
After the initial phone interview (or two) (or three) with each candidate, on-site interviews would be set up with between two to three candidates. The purpose of these interviews are for the search team to meet the candidate (and spouse) in person, and for the candidate and spouse to see our church. The congregation is not involved in this portion of the process.
After the on-site interviews, if the search team determines one of the candidates should be called, a candidate weekend would be scheduled. During this weekend, the congregation would have a chance to meet the candidate and family, hear a sermon, and determine if calling the individual to be our new lead pastor is appropriate.
Prayer Requests:
1. The search team would have discernment to find the pastor God would have us call.
2. The pastor God has called would be discerning of God's call.
3. The portions of the process that require Leadership Team input and congregational input would proceed smoothly.
4. The congregation would continue to be open to and involved in the process.
The search team wants to have each individual in the congregation complete a survey about the future pastor. What strengths in ministry does this person have? How old? What kind of programs would be implemented? Our hope is that this survey will be completed within the next month or so.
We also need to work on gathering information about Mason City itself to provide to prospective candidates. This also means the church needs to finish updating its website (where potential candidates and their families will investigate us!) and our video overview of the church needs to be made.
One important note before an overview of the process from here is given: the search team can "start over" from any of these points if there is not a desired candidate. In other words, if the search team doesn't click with the first few names given, even after interviews, the process will continue with another round of names.
After these tasks are completed, the search team will receive the names of potential candidates from the Superintendent. Right now, we are striving to have this step occur in mid-July. Once we have the names, a letter will be sent to our top candidates, with the invitation to complete an introductory phone interview with the search team.
After the initial phone interview (or two) (or three) with each candidate, on-site interviews would be set up with between two to three candidates. The purpose of these interviews are for the search team to meet the candidate (and spouse) in person, and for the candidate and spouse to see our church. The congregation is not involved in this portion of the process.
After the on-site interviews, if the search team determines one of the candidates should be called, a candidate weekend would be scheduled. During this weekend, the congregation would have a chance to meet the candidate and family, hear a sermon, and determine if calling the individual to be our new lead pastor is appropriate.
Prayer Requests:
1. The search team would have discernment to find the pastor God would have us call.
2. The pastor God has called would be discerning of God's call.
3. The portions of the process that require Leadership Team input and congregational input would proceed smoothly.
4. The congregation would continue to be open to and involved in the process.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Survey Workshop Completed
The survey workshop was held on Sunday, May 1st. Approximately 60 people attended the workshop, which also featured a delicious pasta meal.
We worked through 13 questions as small groups, striving for consensus, and shared our responses with the whole group. The responses were tabulated and will be utilized by the search team to prepare our church profile. The results will also be posted on the bulletin board at church so that those who were not able to attend can review the results.
There will also be an individual survey sent out in the future to address personal preferences to help guide the search team in selecting candidates.
We worked through 13 questions as small groups, striving for consensus, and shared our responses with the whole group. The responses were tabulated and will be utilized by the search team to prepare our church profile. The results will also be posted on the bulletin board at church so that those who were not able to attend can review the results.
There will also be an individual survey sent out in the future to address personal preferences to help guide the search team in selecting candidates.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Survey Workshop Set for May 1st
On May 1st, First Covenant Church will have a combined church service starting at 10 a.m. Following the service, the pastoral search team will hold a survey workshop.
Our goal during this workshop is to give the congregation the opportunity to weigh in on several important issues. We must prepare a church profile that reflects who we are, what our mission is, and how we accomplish that mission. In addition, as a congregation, we need to determine where we desire to be in those areas. The church profile is used by the team and the denomination in matching our church with potential candidates. Thus, the church profile is vitally important to determining the candidates we receive.
Some of the specific topics that will be discussed are worship style, sermon style, core mission, priorities in our mission, and pastoral characteristics.
During the workshop, lunch and childcare will be provided.
Please plan to attend. Be prepared to discuss your opinion and listen to others.
Everyone is invited, whether member or regular attender or visitor.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Almost There! (With the Survey)
The search team made progress with the survey again this week. Our hope is to schedule the survey workshop soon. It is even possible that we will have a date set by next week.
Tonight we compared the questions on the covconnect church profile with our survey questions. One thing we are trying to address is how to evaluate where we are as a congregation and where we would like to be. These may be two different places.
Ideally, we want a new pastor who can lead us from where we are to where we want to be. Of course, this requires that we know where we are and where we want to go!
The format for the workshop is also coming together. We spent tonight discussing when might be a good time, and how the process should work. Our goal remains to get the survey completed as soon as possible so that we can fill out the church profile and begin the next steps of the process.
Tonight we compared the questions on the covconnect church profile with our survey questions. One thing we are trying to address is how to evaluate where we are as a congregation and where we would like to be. These may be two different places.
Ideally, we want a new pastor who can lead us from where we are to where we want to be. Of course, this requires that we know where we are and where we want to go!
The format for the workshop is also coming together. We spent tonight discussing when might be a good time, and how the process should work. Our goal remains to get the survey completed as soon as possible so that we can fill out the church profile and begin the next steps of the process.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Survey Progress Continues
The Search Team met on April 4, 2011 to continue work on the survey. The primary focus was on the area where the congregation ranks the importance of several desired characteristics of the new pastor. These rankings are then used in the church profile to "match" our church with potential candidates.
At this meeting, the focus was on content, with format being the focus for the next meeting. Obviously, it is important that the congregation, who will be taking the survey, understands what we are asking for and how to answer the questions (this can be more confusing that you would think)!
At this meeting, the focus was on content, with format being the focus for the next meeting. Obviously, it is important that the congregation, who will be taking the survey, understands what we are asking for and how to answer the questions (this can be more confusing that you would think)!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Surveys: Beginning the Process
The Search Team met tonight to begin discussing the survey. The purpose of the survey is to help us develop a church profile and criteria to evaluate candidates. Ultimately, the survey information can be used to see both where we are as a church body and where we desire to go.
Adrian worked on synthesizing the various survey examples we received from the denomination. We decided to spend some time between this meeting and the next reviewing the questions. We discussed the format the questions should appear in: a continuum, a set of questions, a range of numbers, etc.
We discussed how to find out the characteristics of a pastor through a survey. We will continue to review the pastor qualities as well.
Hopefully, after the next meeting we will be able to schedule the survey workshop and have the congregation provide input to the survey.
Adrian worked on synthesizing the various survey examples we received from the denomination. We decided to spend some time between this meeting and the next reviewing the questions. We discussed the format the questions should appear in: a continuum, a set of questions, a range of numbers, etc.
We discussed how to find out the characteristics of a pastor through a survey. We will continue to review the pastor qualities as well.
Hopefully, after the next meeting we will be able to schedule the survey workshop and have the congregation provide input to the survey.
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