The PNC is very sad to announce that our pastoral candidate has had to withdraw his candidacy due to a very serious, life-threatening illness in one of his family members. We understand and concur with his decision to place family first in attending to the needs of this seriously ill family member. Although the PNC members are saddened by this turn of events, we are committed to resume the pastoral search process with the same diligence and perseverance that has characterized our efforts up to this point. While we will not offer any empty predictions that the remaining process will be speedy -- or lengthy -- because we simply don't know, we do recommit ourselves to pursuing the search process as expeditiously as possible. God will lead and we will listen. In the meantime, please continue your prayers for strength and courage for our candidate's family and for the PNC.
Your faithful Pastor Nominating Committee,
Steve Holstein, Joanne Marchionda, Nancy Marik, Phil Shepherd and Cathy Wolfe
The Saturday Open House and the Sunday Congregational Meeting this coming weekend have been postponed due to health issues in the candidate's family. The one worship service at 9:00am Sunday will be held as scheduled. The remainder of the Candidating Weekend activities will be rescheduled as soon as feasible. We ask for your patience and your prayers for the candidate and candidate’s family.
Please take a moment to telephone your friends who don't have e-mail and inform them of these changes in the weekend schedule.
We are excited to announce that, we, the Pastor Nominating Committee, have identified a
candidate for recommendation to become pastor of our church. We have all unanimously
agreed on this candidate, believing that this person has the energy and enthusiasm to lead
our congregation. This person is very faith filled and believes in “Living the Word”. This
person fulfills the guidelines that were outlined from the Brainstorming sessions last
spring. The candidate also has a sense of humor and is a chocolate lover.
A Congregational meeting has been called by the Session and is scheduled on May
16th “for the purpose of hearing and acting upon the report and recommendation of the
Pastor Nominating Committee.”
We will hold one worship service on Sunday, May 16th at 9:00 am. The candidate will
lead the service and preach the sermon. The congregational meeting will immediately
follow to hear the PNC report and vote on their recommendation of candidate.
We have been meeting almost every Monday night for the last thirteen months and read
over 170 Pastor Information Forms. We kept our hearts open to God’s guidance and
learned much in the process. And, we all still like each other!
We must continue to maintain strict confidentiality of the candidate’s specific personal
identifying information until May 16th. We are honoring this request of the candidate until
the congregational vote has been completed, as the person’s current church and session
is unaware of this pastor taking a new call. This could be a deal breaker if this confidentiality
is broken. You will be receiving information in the mail the week of May 10th that
will introduce the candidate to you. Specific identifying information will be distributed
on Sunday, May 16th.
PLEASE MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO ATTEND BOTH THE WORHIP SERVICE AT 9
AM ON MAY 16TH AND THE CONGREGATIONAL MEETING WHICH WILL IMMEDIATELY
FOLLOW.
At its meeting on March 15th, the Session requested that the congregation of First Presbyterian Church pause for a moment at Noon on Wednesday, March 24th and offer a prayer for our Pastoral Nominating Committee. All members and friends of the congregation are encouraged to pray at that time and ask that God continues to be present with the Pastoral Nominating Committee and continues to enable them to have the energy, intelligence, imagination, and love as they do their work; that they continue to listen for God’s call to them as they interview and listen to candidates; that they have the courage of faith and present to the congregation a candidate whom they believe will bring to our ongoing ministries the energy, intelligence, imagination, and love needed that these ministries might continue to reflect God’s presence with us; and that they, the PNC, know that we continue to support them in their work and recognize the difficulty of it; and that we continue to offer them our love, respect, and thanks for their commitment and their faith. Please remember the Pastoral Nominating Committee as you pray on Wednesday, March 24th.
The PNC is often asked about the progress of our search for a new pastor. One of our common responses
is that we "take three steps forward and two steps back."
In the last months, we have taken 100 steps forward and unfortunately 99 steps back. What I mean to
say, is that we have come very close to making an offer to three candidates. Each of them, for some
reason, did not work out. We trust that God is working in the process. I know that He is teaching
us and equipping us to recognize the right candidate for our congregation.
One of our candidates was very talented and skilled. We could see God working in him. Though when
it came time to make a decision, we felt that the candidate’s ministry was not a good fit for First Presbyterian.
A second candidate was strong in all the areas we are looking for and brought added strengths that
made me think we hit the jackpot. Unfortunately, another congregation closer to his home thought the
same thing.
We sometimes get discouraged, but more often we are having spirited discussions about candidates and
our church. Even when we narrow it down to one candidate, we are still proceeding with others.
Thank you you for your support and prayers.
Respectfully submitted,
Philip Shepherd, Steve Holstein, Nancy Marik, Cathy Wolfe and Joanne Marchionda
Happy New Year everyone! As you may have read from the personnel team's report in December's Newsletter,Pastor Tom's contract was extended another 6 months which would take him to a total of 18 months. This is the average time it takes to replace a pastor. We have been meeting for 10 of those months and have accomplished a lot, unfortunately, we are unable to share details with you at this time due to confidentiality reasons. We appreciate your understanding.
We on the PNC are continuing to meet on Monday nights and reviewing PIF's received through the Presbyterian Church's Leadership Connection web site from all over the country. We have learned how to weed out those without enough experience and then discuss those candidates that may have the skills and talents needed to lead us as a church. We also continue to analyze answers to follow-up questions we send, listen to sermons sent to us, schedule phone interviews and make reference checks. All of which take some finessing of our personal schedules to coordinate with the candidate's schedule.
First Presbyterian Church has a lot to offer an incoming Pastor; a beautiful building that is paid for, wonderful, established programs and a strong congregation willing to work for the Lord. Because of this we are committed to take the time and do what it takes to find the right person, whom we feel the Lord has chosen for us. We feel and appreciate the prayers you have said on our behalf and continue to be guided by the Lord to find the one person best suited for the church's needs at this time.
Steve Holstein, Phil Shepherd, Cathy Wolfe, Joann Marchionda, & Nancy Marik
Nancy Marik and Cathy Wolfe also gave progress reports at the 1st and 2nd services respectively on December 20th.
We’re still on the job patiently looking for that “needle in a haystack” (our next pastor)! God is teaching us new lessons in humility and patience and faith. Keep praying for us.
The Pastor Nominating Committee has been regularly meeting since March. We have probably each spent nearly 100 hours meeting as a group, drafting our CIF (Church Information Form), reviewing PIF's (Personal Information Forms), reading candidates written responses to our questions, listening to sermons, and conducting telephone interviews. Upcoming steps include checking references and observing candidates at a neutral pulpit.
We have a number of candidate groups that are at different steps in the process.
Through this process we have had valuable discussions about who we are as a church and where we are going.
The PNC is made up of Steven Holstein, Nancy Marik, Joanne Marchionda, Philip Shepherd, and Cathy Wolfe.
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