July 28, 2010
Dear Friends,
Just want a HUGE amount of thanks to the Pastoral Search Team. Though their job is not completely done, they have done an incredible amount of work on behalf of this congregation to get to the point of bringing in a candidate. It has been a process of much prayer and discernment together, listening for God’s voice and looking for God’s hand.
It is a process that began in actuality back in 2008 with the selection of the Transition Team (big thanks to them again, too!), who have worked closely with myself as the Interim Pastor to intentionally make the interim time a time of reflection, preparation, and growth for the congregation. They did this through a series of forums, a churchwide retreat, surveys and interviews. All of these activities were open to the entire congregation, which readily embraced them, which led to a broad-based participation.
That work of the congregation was then shared with the Pastoral Search Team to provide a starting point the search process. This is because to discern who God is calling to be the Pastor, it first needs to be known who God is calling the church to be – which this church discerned together is a church that is growing, tearing down walls, building bridge and expanding the community circle.
As you will recall, last fall, before the Pastoral Search Team members were elected by the congregation at the Annual Meeting, there was a forum. At this forum, the process for the Pastoral Search Team, as written in the Church of the Trinity Bylaws, was explained. This was new information for new members, but a refresher for longtime members, as the only part of the process that has been changed is that more of the Pastoral Search Team members are elected by the congregation than previously.
The church was reminded at that forum that the process of searching for a Pastor is different than electing a governing official; that a pastoral search is a discernment process, not a democratic process; that God already knew who God was calling, the search was for the church to discover who that is. The congregation was also reminded that only one candidate would be brought forward for a vote, that bringing forward more than one has caused other churches to split, each candidate with a group.
Then, at the Annual Meeting, those Team members, five of them, were elected by the congregation to represent them. Once they were elected, three members of the Board of Directors joined them and their work together on behalf of the congregation began. With the information from the Transition Team about who Church of the Trinity is, they were able to work together to formulate a job description for the Pastor to share with the congregation for feedback, which was incorporated into the final draft.
Shortly thereafter, the congregation, as well the Regional Elder and other denominational leaders, was asked to share names of potential candidates that might be able to fulfill the job as outlined in the job description. Those potential candidates were reviewed and prayed over and those that seemed as though they may be called and qualified were invited to apply for the position. Once all of the applications were in, they were reviewed and prayed over. After reviewing and interviewing, after much prayer and discernment, a qualified candidate emerged as the candidate that it seemed God was indeed calling.
The name and credentials of that candidate, per the Bylaws, was forwarded to the Board of Directors to vote on as the candidate to bring forward to the congregation. Again, the Board reviewed and prayed, and again, the discernment was that this candidate was the one that it seemed God was calling to be Pastor of Church of the Trinity, and the one who has the skills needed to fulfill that calling.
And, as we all know, that candidate is Rev. Charles Tigard, about whom information has been distributed, with that information now available in the Narthex. It has taken a lot of work to get to this point, as you can see. The Pastoral Search Team has done that work both professionally and prayerfully and it is appreciated!
But, the process is not yet complete. Rev. Charles will be here for a week in August, with events planned for the congregation to meet him, learn about him, and to continue the discernment process. On August 15, he will preach at both worship services. On August 18, he will attend Wednesday night dinner and there will a question and answer forum with him afterward. On August 21, there will be a churchwide picnic for everyone to enjoy together. And then on August 22, there will be only one blended service that day at 10:30, at which Rev. Charles will preach.
Immediately following that service, there will be a special called Congregational Meeting for the sole purpose of voting whether to call Rev. Charles as Pastor. The Bylaws state that a candidate must receive at least a 70% affirmative vote to be called. This vote, though, is not about numbers; it is about what the congregation has discerned about God’s calling for Church of the Trinity moving into the future, fulfilling God’s dream.
Many of you have been so very kind as to inquire what my next part of the journey will be. I know I am being called elsewhere, but the details of that are not yet clear. I have been presented with some very good options and am in the discernment process myself. As soon as something becomes official, I will definitely let everyone know! I love this congregation and saying goodbye will not be easy, but I trust God is in this process.
It has been a process and a journey. But it has been a process and a journey in which God has traveled right alongside Church of the Trinity. God has been, and will continue to be, no matter where that process leads or who comes along to join the journey.
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow!
Rev. Lisa Heilig, Interim Pastor
