Transition Team Update
TRANSITION TEAM UPDATE
Team members: Molly Warmka, John Tieben Jr, Erik Aamlid, Dave Holzer, Deb Anderson, Doug Hvidsten, Clint Mack, with Pastor Ted as our guide.
We meet the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month with our 1st meeting on Sept 19.
ELCA and Minneapolis Synod have a very structured process in place to help member churches make good choices the 1st time around when calling a new pastor. That process includes an extensive self-analysis about who we really are and what matters to us as a faith community. We then have to identify what characteristics, strengths, etc., we want in our new pastor.
We are developing a list of observations, wishes and goals for Hope Lutheran into a document we call “Hope Is……..”. In it, we list what we see Hope as being now, what we want to keep or build upon, and what new things we might want to accomplish. What we have so far is a composite of notes made by Pastor Ted when he interviewed about 80 members when he first came on board this summer, and input from members of various boards and committees here (BOYEM, Deacons, Trustees, Shared Ministry), church council, and members of the transition team. We are developing a process in which all of you, the members of Hope, will also soon be able contribute to this assessment, and expect to have your feedback results by Thanksgiving.
The overall objective of this phase is to identify key values, turn them into goals and create a strategic plan to achieve those goals. As I said earlier, we meet twice per month and it will take several meetings to get through these steps, so we anticipate completing this phase around Christmas.
After Christmas we will begin the process of using those plans and goals to determine what characteristics we are looking for in a pastor. That phase will again involve getting input from you, the congregation, which will probably look similar to the 1st survey soon to be rolled out.
All this information ultimately goes into what the Synod calls a Ministry Site Profile (MSP). This document is intended to create an accurate picture of Hope Lutheran, of the Jordan community, and the surrounding area, as well as our wants and expectations, so that a prospective pastor can visualize what might be in store for them, if they decide to answer our call. We must complete that document before the Synod will give us the OK to actually start looking for candidates to fill the role of head pastor at Hope.
Our goal is to have the MSP completed and submitted to the Synod in the April time-frame (Easter is April 9th). From what Pastor Ted tells us, it generally takes about a month for the Synod to review, and hopefully accept, the MSP. We don’t have to sit idle for that month. During that time, we will form the actual Call Committee which may include some or all of the Transition Team but may also include members of Hope not on the Transition Team.
After our Ministry Site Profile has been reviewed, (post Easter?) the bishop will come to Jordan and meet with the Transition Team or Call Committee before we get any prospective pastor names / resumes to review. It is reasonable to assume pastor interviews could begin toward the end of May. This may seem like a long-drawn-out period of time but remember…………. We meet twice per month and team members all have other commitments. We also have the Annual Meeting, Lent, Easter, Spring Break, etc. that fall within these months. If we get to the end of the process sooner, GREAT! But we need to be realistic in our expectations.
We should also anticipate a time gap between issuing a call and having a new pastor. We all know this is a great place to be but not everyone outside of here shares our perspective. The call process could be short but it could also draw out over many months. We just need to be diligent in our tasks, remain patient in our expectations, and continue asking God to lead us to the right choices.
