On February 28, 2011, the congregation and the search team met with Ken Carlson, conference superintendent. Ken explained the process of selecting a lead pastor.
First, selection of a pastor is a Marathon, not a sprint. The entire process is likely to take 12 to 18 months from start to finish.
Second, an interim pastor will be brought in to aid us in our transition. This allows us time to grieve our Pastor's leaving, and learn who we are as a congregation. We will be reminded that it is us, the congregation, who is the church, not the pastor. The Interim Pastor will also help us celebrate the results of our search process.
At the start of the process, the search team will need input and help in preparing and completing the tasks necessary for the search. We will be asking the congregation to help us out with a variety of things (like videos, an overview of the area, and a survey).
The flip side to this input is that at some point, the search committee will need to hold some information confidential during the process. We promise to provide as much information as we can on the process, but there will be times we will not have much to share.
If members of the congregation have names of potential candidates, the search committee will be glad to accept them, with the caveat that the process at that point will be between the potential candidate and the search team, not the congregational member.
After the congregational meeting, Ken met with the search team and provided specific information on how the process works. The team agreed to meet in one week to elect a chair, a secretary and a communication coordinator.
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