On Sunday, August 21, 2016, immediately following worship, the congregation of Watkins Glen Presbyterian Church voted unanimously to elect 9 people to serve in the ministry of the Pastoral Nominating Committee. The people who were elected are: Dannie Brown Anne Centurelli, Wendy Drake, Harriett Farrell, Rachel Houseknecht, John King, Marzi Lewis, Tom Weidemann, Ken Wilson. We give thanks to God that these people have said "yes" to serving God and the church in this way.
The Pastoral Nominating Committee (PNC) will begin their work together soon. They will take the Mission Study Report (prepared earlier this summer, and approved by both our Session and the Committee on Ministry (COM) of the Presbytery), discern what characteristics, gifts and skills of a minister would best serve the ministry and mission of this church, and use that information to create what is essentially the church resume: The Ministry Information Form. After that form is completed and approved by COM, it will be placed on the Church Leadership Connection of the PCUSA. Pastors and seminarians who are looking for pastoral calls also post their resumes, called Personal Information Forms (PIFs). Some PIFs will be sent automatically, through the matching feature of the system; others will be sent directly from people seeking calls.
In this technology savvy age, much of this will take place electronically: the old days of getting stacks of paper resumes sent through the mail is over. Potential candidates most often have sermons available for viewing on youtube or vimeo, and skype and conference calls are used for initial interviews. All of this use of technology not only cuts down costs, but also allows the PNC to have a better idea of who is applying, and helps the search process enormously.
I hope that you will hold the PNC in prayer, will respect their decisions, will allow them the time and confidentiality to discern who God is calling to be your next pastor. Please take some time to thank them for this ministry, as well as to thank the Nominating Committee for their work and discernment as well.
Blessings
- Pastor Nancy
