Welcome to the PNC UPDATE page! As things progress through the steps of finding a new pastor for our church family, I will be posting some general information about where we are in the process. Hopefully this will keep you both informed and enthusiastic about whom God has chosen for this important role…and how we locate him or her! If you have questions that are not answered through these updates, please reach out to any one of the members of the PNC. Our names and contact information will be at the close of this note.
We have had 2 meetings so far. We first met on December 10 for an informal, introductory meeting where we met Scott Pepperman, who is our liaison to the Presbytery’s Commission on Ministry (COM). He is a Ruling Elder at Silver Spring Presbyterian church, has been through this process before and is looking forward to working with us. We then scheduled our next meeting to meet with Interim Executive Presbyter Rev. Cheryl Galan. That meeting was held on January 13. Rev. Galan gave us a power-point orientation and went over a publication titled “On Calling a Pastor”. She also showed us how to navigate the Presbytery’s website called “Church Leadership Connection”. After she and Scott left, we met in Holy Grounds for a discussion. Here is a consolidated look at the steps we are taking now:
- We need to fill out a Ministry Information Form (MIF). This is a detailed form that requires statistics about St. James, answers to 5 narrative questions about who we are, a definitive mission statement, characteristics of the person that we feel will best suit our leadership needs and salary/benefit offerings. We are working independently on ideas for these topics, staying in contact through email and will meet again on Sunday, January 26 after the worship service. We are going to work hard to get this filled out as expediently as possible, however realizing that it is very important to represent our church authentically and be intentional about what we are looking for in a spiritual leader. This may take some time. We are currently reviewing the Mission Study that was generated in September 2019 from our small group meetings. This will assist us in answering the narrative questions best representing what the members of St. James deemed most reflective of our situation and goals.
- After the form is completed, it will have to be approved by our session and the Presbytery. Once approved, we can submit and upload it to the Presbytery website. There it will go into a computer match service to be linked to possible candidates that are searching for calls. They will have filled out a Personal Information Form (PIF) about themselves (with corresponding questions from our MIF) and we will be notified of any candidate that is looking for what we need. If this sounds a bit like computer dating, you’re not wrong! But it is a convenient and efficient way to get started. There are some other options for searching that we may explore later, but for now, this is where we are going to begin.
- Once we find some “matches”, we will be reviewing the PIF’s. In addition to the question/answer/statement parts of the PIF, there are often links to sermons, both video and written. So we will be listening to and reading sermon texts from our candidates. From there, we will narrow down the field and begin interviewing. But as you can see, that may be down the road after some long walks and twists and turns in the path. Stay with us…we think it is going to be an exciting journey!
Your PNC is very anxious to keep the momentum going in our search. We are all “on the same page” when it comes to enthusiasm in furthering the mission and ministry of everyone at St. James. We all look forward to coming to worship together, seeing all of you and participating in outreach events to our community. We are enjoying the new and powerful music that Dr. Beth Trez is providing for our church. She is a very talented, faith-filled music leader and her excitement for musical worship is evident and contagious. Theo Camara is a blessing to our kids and our congregation! He is enthusiastic, warm and well-loved by our youth and adults alike. Jenn Capers is a gem in our office, organizing all of the “nuts and bolts” of our church and always doing so with a smile. Our preschool continues to thrive under the direction of Jane Michaliszyn and her staff of caring, compassionate teachers. And then there is YOU! The generous and caring congregation of St. James! We have much for which to be thankful among us. Most importantly, our love which comes from the grace and love of God our Father. Please keep us in your prayers as we determine the person God is calling to lead all of us into new and wonderful ways to show His love to all!
Peace,
Karen McL
Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Pastor Nominating Committee
Karen Howenstine (717) 576-0879 kjhow33@gmail.com
Ginger Johns (864) 357-6249 aldaygirl1727@gmail.com
Steven Grubb (717) 576-8145 stevengrubb@comcast.net
Deb Hanner (717) 805-8413 cwbyfan02@aol.com
Karen McLaughlin (717) 497-3032 kmcl105@aol.com
Joyce Shirley (717) 579-1909 joycershirley@gmail.com
Tom Dardick (717) 343-9229 tom@dardickcommunications.com
