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Pastor's Note | Saturday, September 27th

Our Town Hall Meeting on September 21st was well attended and included significant information, helpful questions, and good dialogue. If you were unable to make it, click here for a video.

Last year, as I began to look forward to retirement in 2016, I was convinced it would be in the best interest of Good Shepherd to consider a transition of pastoral leadership to Curtis and Paul. With that in mind we sought the help of an outside resource and were referred to a number of resources. Don Goehner, a Church Consultant, was the person who seemed to be the best fit for us. Last Sunday evening, Don gave his report from his work with us last spring.

I appreciate Don’s insights and input very much and want us all to be very clear about how his recommendations will be dealt with by our Session. Don gave the Session a number of Action Items to be completed before we would move forward and before we would report to the congregation. Through the summer, the Session was very busy in dealing with these items.

The first was processing Don’s recommendation to determine the number of pastors needed. That was not too difficult, and the answer was: two.

The second question was whether those two would be Paul and Curtis. To address this, the Session formed a Team to 1) prepare position descriptions and 2) interview Paul and Curtis about their interests in them. Paul clarified his desire to remain the Associate Pastor and fulfill the responsibilities of the job description for the Associate Pastor. Curtis expressed his interest in serving as Pastor/Head of Staff.

The third task was to begin a process of clarifying our vision for ministry in the future in the context of being affiliated with ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians. Being in ECO calls us to become a different kind of church – a “missional” and more outward-focused church, committed to making new disciples of Jesus, helping to plant new churches, and working with other ECO churches in our area.

The fourth item was to think about the timetable for this transition. Don’s point was that if we were to move forward with the pastoral team of Curtis and Paul, a two-year transition was too long (remember, this was from his report to Session at the end of May 2014). Session and I have talked about this and have agreed that if we move this way, July 2015 would be our target date for my stepping out.

So, as reported at the Town Hall Meeting, the Session is looking at the recommendations and is committed to the following:

First, continue the process of clarifying vision for ministry and developing a three-year ministry plan.

Second, form a “Pastor Calling Team” consisting of a cross-section of the congregation, to affirm the call of Curtis as Pastor/Head of Staff (Paul remains the Associate Pastor), and to enter into a Pastor-Church Covenant Agreement with Curtis (if he is affirmed to be in this role) and Paul.

Third, determine the best staffing model to provide the needed administrative support for the pastors. Don recommended an Executive Administrator. While that is one model churches are using, the Session will consider other cost-effective ways to ensure that the needed administrative support is provided.

Would you please pray for the Session as we move through this time of transition? Ask God to guide in such a way that our ministry impact on our congregation and on our community will result in blessing – the blessing of knowing Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and living as his disciples.

With gratitude,
Pastor Jim

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