It has been almost a year now since we started the search for a full time Associate Pastor. For almost 6 months of that time we were working on the person we felt was going to be our next staff member. Turns out the Lord had others plans. Blessed be the Name of the Lord…Amen? Amen. We trust His guidance and pray for patience to wait upon the Lord. We have been in the process of receiving resumes and doing interviews. We have been blessed to talk with some very talented and gifted individuals. We have had some that made us want a second follow up visit right away. That is very encouraging. We will keep you updated as we make progress. We are in what I refer to as the “Dating Stage”. We are looking at multiple resumes and are interviewing multiple persons. When one catches our heart then we will stop and see if we sense God is leading. When we get down to looking at just one person, we will enter the “engagement stage”. That is when you get to meet them. Ultimately, we are looking for the “let’s get married stage” when we extend a call to them and they accept! Oh, what a day!
By the way, just an update on the position we are looking to fill. We are looking for what we used to call an Associate Pastor. In the olden-golden days we used to refer to this as an Educational Director. Today the position would be referred to as a Pastor of Discipleship or Pastor of Connection Ministries or an Assimilation Pastor. At any rate, we are looking for a “second chair” who would serve as an Associate Pastor. The idea of having a successor to take over in the far distant future when I retire is really off the table. At one time we had hoped the Associate would be the person to become the Senior Lead Pastor when I retire. Currently, we are only looking for an Associate, a Second Chair. Primary responsibilities of the Associate Pastor would include leading our small group (Connection Group) ministries and our ministry teams.
Thanks for keeping us in your prayers. We do believe God has the right person out there and they, too, are waiting on the leadership of the Lord.
See you Sunday, good Lord willing.
Pastor Tom
