Light of the World Transition News

December 26th, 2012

 

God has been up to some wonderful things in this community since the news of Deb's departure. It has been inspiring. Thank you.

 

As the council continues to make it a priority to be as transparent as possible, we wanted to send an update via e-blast to complement Don Steger's recent updates at worship.

 

First of all, I'd like to explain the process a little more to give everyone some clarity as we hire an interim pastor and then call a new pastor. As a council, we have the task of selecting an interim pastor. Part of the reason for this is the short window of time available to complete the process. We recognize the significance of this job and we will be very deliberate in listening to what God is saying. Over the next year, as we move into the formal call process for our permanent pastor, the congregation will be intimately involved in each step and will make the final decision on who Light of the World calls to our church. 

　

The council met on December 11th to determine what we would be looking for in an interim pastor. This information was then given to Paul Erickson at the St. Paul Area Synod office to begin the process of finding matches to our criteria.

 

We'd like everyone to know the criteria we provided.

 

First of all, after careful thought and analysis we have made the determination to extend an offer at 50% of full time. Right now, we feel this is the best decision for the congregation based on a handful of factors. But, we have also reserved the right to increase that percentage if we learn that we have not allotted enough time for the interim pastor to be successful in supporting the mission of LOTW. We also gave Paul a list of ten criteria that we believe are critical to this congregation. All ten items are important so please keep in mind that the list is in no particular order. 

  • A strong worship leader who is comfortable with the contemporary worship style at LOTW
  • A confident, non-anxious presence who can lend a sense of stability as we move through the transition
  • A relational leader who connects well with individuals; a good listener
  • An organized leader who can help the congregation attend to the dynamics and tasks of transition in a timely yet thoughtful manner
  • The children of our congregation are fundamental to worship and to much of what we do. We are looking for someone who is comfortable with that and has the same type of belief.
  • Someone who would be interested and excited to work with and support Emmy during her internship
  • Someone who would be supportive of our passion for acting in the world
  • Someone who would be "called" to a church like ours and would be comfortable being themselves here
  • Someone who could easily relate to a cross section of our community
  • Someone who would be comfortable at a Reconciled in Christ church, if we pursue that path in the future


On December 19th, Paul Erickson attended our council meeting and presented us with two candidates based on the information we provided. The process is considered confidential so we are unable to share anything about the candidates at this time. I apologize for that. 

　

Our timetable is currently somewhat fluid but as best I can, I would like to lay out what the next four to six weeks will look like for us. 

  • This week: The council will meet to discuss the two candidates that were presented to us by Paul Erickson.
  • The first two weeks of January: We will interview each candidate and decide who we would like to hire as our interim pastor, or determine if we need to request new candidates from the Bishop's office because we did not feel that either of them were a fit for us.
  • January 28th or February 4th: The tentative starting dates for the interim pastor. 


This means that worship between January 6th (Deb's last day) and the interim pastor's starting date would need to be covered by others who have been gracious enough to offer their services. At this point, we already have a couple of the weeks covered.

 

January 13th: Emmy will lead service/preach and Paul Galchutt will lead communion

January 20th: Paul Erickson will preach and lead communion

January 27th: TBD (we already have a couple of ideas in mind)

February 3rd: TBD (as we move forward we will determine if we need to account for this date)

 

Thank you again for your continued support. If you have any questions or would like to share anything that is on your mind, please feel free to contact me at brianstangl@gmail.com  or any one of your council members for more information.

 

Sincerely,

Brian Stangl