It has been 14 months since Pastor Cara left, and while we are grateful that Pastor Lynda has been with us for the past three months, many of us are getting anxious, confused about what lies ahead. In her role as interim pastor, the emphasis of Pastor Lynda’s work is both to lead us in Sunday worship and to prepare us for our next chapter. In addition to getting to know us and working with Session, her main focus is leading us through the discernment process. Presbyterian Church USA and Interim training break this down into five segments:
- Heritage of the church – Studying how our congregation has been shaped and formed through pastoral leadership, worship style, membership, and community and world events.
- Leadership – Assessing membership needs, studying those who have been leaders among our members, and empowering others.
- Mission – Guiding us through discernment to redefine our identity and our sense of purpose.
- Connection – Discovering relationships we can build with community associations beyond our walls.
- Future – Building a vision for our future through really understanding our ministry goals and pastoral expectations as a launch for our pastoral search committee.
The first Tuesday evening of every month, many of us meet in Fellowship Hall, sharing a meal and digging into each of the 5 topics; later that month we break into smaller groups delving into each topic more deeply and on a personal level, sharing our thoughts at the next larger gathering. We believe after studying each of these five areas we will be ready to document the foundation for what we as a congregation want to be and form a pastor search committee to search for someone to lead us in that direction. We invite you to join us and make your voice be heard to further strengthen our future.
