November 2021———————————————————————————-
TRANSITION TEAM UPDATE
Thank you for submitting your responses to the survey! The Transition Team is working on compiling the results. They will then use this information to craft the Ministry Site Profile (MSP). This is the document that pastoral candidates use to decide if they want to apply for a position at a particular church. It’s important that it represents Living Waters well so you get the candidate(s) that will be the best possible match. The Transition Team will be using your feedback to complete that document.
The MSP will be approved by the Council and submitted to the Southwestern Minnesota Synod for approval. They will also appoint a Call Committee consisting of 6 people who will be responsible for interviewing candidates once the MSP has been approved by the Synod and the ELCA. The Call committee will also narrow down the candidates to one “Candidate of Choice.” The congregation will then vote on whether or not to extend a call to that person.
If you have questions about this process or the work of the team, please contact any of the following individuals:
Holly Janson, Blair Schrader. Brad Becker, Judy Bettendorf, Terry Sylvester, Michele Berkovich, Bryce Paulson, Elizabeth Pederson, Laura Lee Gullickson, or Pastor Ann.
Your prayers are requested as we continue to discern the leadership needs of Living Waters.
September 2021 ———————————————————————————–
SURVEY IS NOW CLOSED.
Please take a few minutes and thoughtfully answer the questions on this short survey. Your answers will help shape the future of LWLC as we move forward. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!
August 2021 ——————————————————————————————-
The transition team has met several times to discuss the transition process. We are inviting all of you to join us on Sunday, September 12,at 9:00am for Rally Sunday. It will be the kick-off for Sunday School as well as the beginning of our information gathering process as we seek your feedback in determining what leadership might look like moving forward.
The process of hiring a pastor, or maybe even 2 pastors, will take months following the complilation of your feedback and the creation of a Ministry Site Profile that will be shared with prospective pastoral candidates.
With that being said, we also know that there is a great emphasis placed on the support of our young people. Individuals from the transition team, some from the Council, and some for personnel committee met to work to create an Education Coordinator position description. They then met with individuals from the Finance Committee, personnel committee, and with Council. A decision was made to move forward to hire an Education Coordinator. The position will be part-time for a year, with the possibility of further employment, depending on the leadership needs that are identified through the process.
We need your help in the process. Here’s how you can help…
· Plan to join us on Sunday, September 12 at 9am.
· Share photos of past activities and events that are part of the history of Living Waters. Patti will put together a slideshow that will be used during the service.
· Fill out the survey when it becomes available on September 12
· Meet with a Transition Team member or Pastor Ann to talk about the survey and God’s vision for Living Waters.
· Invite others who attend Living Waters to join in the process, too.
· Continue to pray for wisdom and discernment in this process, as well as for those serving on the transition team.
If you have questions, please contact a Transition Team member:
Blair Schrader, Brad Becker, Michele Berkovich, Elizabeth Pederson, Judy Bettendorf, Bryce Paulson, Laura Lee Gullickson, Terry Sylvester, Holly Janson, or Pastor Ann.
———————————————————————————————————–
TRANSITION TEAM MEMBERS:
Blair Schrader Bryce Paulson Brad Becker
Judy Bettendorf Terry Sylvester Holly Janson
Laura Lee Gullickson Michele Berkovich Elizabeth Pederson
June 25, 2021—————————————————————————————–
About 10 members of the team have met twice in June in
an attempt to determine how we move on from Pastor Todd’s departure.
We have had some preliminary discussion on the needs of the congregation and how we go about gathering information from the congregation.
* Currently we have:
° Pastor Ann called as an interim Pastor for 6 months and this may be extended. (Probably will need to.)
° We have brought on Pastor Bobbi Bell as a bridge Pastor to help with pastoral duties of our congregation. With these 2 Pastors we believe we have the interim Pastoral needs covered.
* Our first action item is in conjunction with our church council. We believe it is necessary to hire an Educational leader to continue to provide the leadership and ongoing support for our Youth. We hope to have the Personnel and Education teams along with 2 members of our Transition team write a job description. Once that is completed, we would advertise the position so that we can hopefully fill this position by August. This will allow us to be ready for Education for all youth levels when they come back this September.
* Next, we will be providing opportunities for each of you to share what you see as the needs of our congregation at various meetings in late Summer (Probably September). We believe it is better to wait until later in the summer when people will be more available and will engage in these opportunities. We’ll also present a survey that may be done in person or on-line.
* Two things come from the data we gather:
° along with the budget the council provides for us we will be able to determine what the staffing need is for our congregation, and
° we will create a Living Waters profile that we will submit to the ELCA for applicants to review and determine if they have any interest in applying to be our Pastor.
* Once we have determined if we need 1 or 2 Pastors and if they should be full or Part-time we will pursue the calling of the Pastor. This is done after we have gathered all of the information from the congregation. I would hope we can have this completed in October.
* From there, council appoints a Call Committee, who proceeds with reviewing applications, conducting interviews, and making a recommendation to council.
° A Congregational meeting will be held to vote on calling a new Pastor.
° Notification will be given to the Pastor who is being called and they have 30 days to accept or decline the call.
° If an agreement is made then a start date will be set.
All of this will take some time and we need to be patient in this process.
As the Transition team, Council, and eventually the Call Committee works through this process, we appreciate your prayers and your input to help us determine the best fit.