PASTOR’S CORNER
• For the past 14 months — you have been gathering — around dinner tables in the fellowship hall — and in small groups — to engage in honest — tender — and sometimes courageous conversations about who you are and where God is calling you. You have been doing the hard and holy work of looking at your Heritage — celebrating the faithful journey that brought you here — while honestly tending the places that still need healing.
• You have been wrestling together with your Mission — asking what you truly stand for — what you are called to be in this community and in this world — during this season. You have been examining your Leadership — thinking carefully about how this community is organized and who needs to be equipped and empowered for what comes next.
• You have begun identifying your Connections — remembering that no congregation is an island and that the partnerships you have formed beyond these walls are part of your calling too. And you have been daring to look toward your Future — not with fear — but with faith.
• Heritage – Mission – Leadership — Connections — and Future — the Five Focus Areas of Interim Ministry. 14 months of faithful work carried out in Dinner and Discernment and Small Group gatherings. And yet — I want to remind you that you have not been building something from scratch. You have been joining something that was already in motion — because God was already in the field before you got there.
• In April — our Committee on Ministry representative — Cathy Foerester — came and instructed Session about the steps involved in preparing to form a PNC. One of those steps is a Congregational Self-Study to be conducted by Session. The information gathered in the study becomes our "application" (for lack of a better word) that will be submitted to COM for approval to form a PNC. In the coming weeks — Elders will begin collecting information to complete the required Self-Study in preparation for formally requesting that COM approve the formation of a Pastor Nominating Committee at their meeting in September.
• To accomplish this in a timely manner — each Elder has been assigned 8-10 members of this community to have conversations with members regarding how each of you sees this community and what your hopes are for the future. It is Session's hope that you will accept the invitation to be part of the answer you have been seeking — by participating when contacted. The goal is to collect all the survey results by mid-August so that the information can be formatted to present to COM at their meeting in September.
• To foster good communication – and ease any anxiety around what my you will be asked – an email will be sent with all the survey questions. Additionally, if you would like to know who will be contacting you – please call, email, or text me and I will provide you with that information.
• The upcoming Congregational Self-Study is not just an administrative exercise. It is not just a box to check on the way to forming a PNC and calling a new pastor. These conversations are an act of prayer made visible. They are you saying to God — we are willing — and ready to be part of the answer. And here is what I believe with my whole heart — when you show up for these conversations — when you bring your honest voice and your hopeful spirit — you are answering a prayer that this congregation has already been praying together.
Blessings,
Pastor Lynda
