Pray For Our Plan To Hire A Pastor

A Second Full-Time Pastor

This past Sunday Pastor Eric announced plans to employ a second full-time pastor. The Pastoral Team has deliberated over this for over a year, consulted our Finance and Law Committee, many of our church members, and even a few outsiders. It will take courage and sacrifice. Nobody believes the road ahead is easy. Good but not easy.

One of the challenges we face is finances. We don't yet have a budget that can sustain a second staff pastor. We are close and getting closer and this is in large part due to your generosity. Thank you. We've been saving for years and will be able to use some of our cash reserves to meet the projected shortfall over the next two years.

Another challenge we face is selecting a candidate. As of today, both Dustin Smetona and Lucas Enge are willing and eager to take the position and we wish we could hire both! Thank you men (and your wives) for your desire to serve us. You already serve us so well as volunteers. We have no intention at this time of entertaining any other candidates. Yet, as you can imagine, this too is a big challenge. We are asking Dustin and Lucas to be part of the decision process. We are functioning as a healthy plurality. The Pastoral Team (including the candidates) must select a candidate. This requires maturity and grace and, as Pastor Eric reported on Sunday "No surprise. So far so good."

There are many more details and we are planning a series of blog posts in the weeks to come. We will also be soliciting church members for input and affirmation. You don't have to hesitate. Contact a church leader if you have something to say. In the meantime, two requests:

Please pray for wisdom and unity.

Please attend our Members meeting. Sunday, June 11, 2017