It is six months since Pastor David retired and Pastor Becki arrived as an interim Senior Pastor. I want to provide an update on where Holy Trinity is relative to the call process.
Assistant to the Bishop Mitch Phillips met with the Church Council last Spring to explain the current ELCA procedure for a congregation to follow prior to being ready to call a new pastor. First is a period of several months with an interim pastor to provide separation from the routine of the previous pastor and to help a congregation accept that there are different styles of pastoral leadership that can be equally valid or effective. That is where we are now.
Next is a period of discernment where the congregation looks at its current worship practices and outreach activities to see if and how they should be augmented or expanded in plans for the congregation’s ministries going forward with new pastoral leadership. Our Invite-Welcome-Connect Initiative workshop that was held in November certainly plays a part in that discernment. So does Council’s decision to engage a consultant to conduct a congregational survey and then work with the Cabinet, Council, and Staff to help crystalize and formalize those plans in a written document that can be a framework for the Ministry Profile that the Call Committee will prepare. We expect that the work with our consultant will be completed by June of this year so that a Call Committee can be appointed and begin its work over the summer. I want to emphasize that an important element of the Discernment period is to determine the level of financial and participatory support of the congregation in the ministries of Holy Trinity. That can have a major impact on the level of interest in our Senior Pastor position and the quality of candidates who will be attracted to a call to Holy Trinity. Please prayerfully consider your response to Pastor Becki’s Stewardship letter that you recently received.
Once the Ministry Profile is complete, the process of searching out and interviewing pastoral candidates can begin. Please pray for all those involved in this process as we move forward together. We will keep you apprised of progress as the level of activity increases in 2023. †
~ John Guran, 2022 Council President