Transition Team Update 1/25/2023
TRANSITION TEAM UPDATE 1/25/2023
Team members: Molly Warmka, Clint Mack, John Tieben Jr, Erik Aamlid, Dave Holzer, Deb Anderson, Doug Hvidsten, and Pastor Ted as our guide. We have been meeting the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month since Sept 19, 2022. With guidance from the ELCA and Minneapolis Synod, our goal is to make a good choice when calling a new pastor.
Youth and young adult programming have been clearly identified as top areas of interest to our membership. In ranked order, the top priorities expressed in the recent survey are (1) Investing in youth programs to strengthen ministry for children and youth, (2) Developing opportunities to learn and grow in faith, (3) Facilitate additional positive relationships to one-another, (4) Utilizing a plan to engage and invite the broader Jordan Community to Hope Lutheran, (5) Focus on engaging and serving our older members, and (6) Increase our focus on service to the Jordan community.
We have now begun work on creating specific goals that reflect those priorities, and defining strategic plans to achieve those goals. Once our goals have been defined, we will be better able to identify the characteristics needed in our new pastor. These characteristics will be articulated in the Ministry Site Profile (MSP), a tool developed by the ELCA 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 were to answer our call. That document is required by the Synod prior to giving us the OK to actually start reviewing 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 March – April 2023 time-frame. It generally takes about a month for the Synod to review, and hopefully, accept the MSP. During that time, we will form the actual Call Committee which, per our constitution, is to include a minimum of six voting members. Transition Team participants can also be on the Call Committee but this is not a requirement. Please ask yourself if you would be interested in being on the Call Committee and, if so, make your interest known at the church office, to Pastor Ted, or to any member of the Transition Team.
After our Ministry Site Profile has been approved, (post Easter?) the Bishop will meet directly with the Call Committee prior to providing us with any prospective pastor names / resumes to review. It is reasonable to assume pastor interviews could begin toward the end of May. We anticipate a time gap between issuing a call and having a new pastor. 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.
