Community Church

Call Committee Update (Feb 25)

In the coming week we will set about hearing the first of our final candidates preach and then sit down together for a more in-depth conversation. It is certain that very intentional questions and specific concerns from every perspective will be at the heart of this discussion.

There is no doubt that this stage of the call process brings a sense of trepidation – as there is much at stake as we narrow our search. Yet as the process advances, we realize more clearly and rely more heavily on the fact that it is not of our own accord – but that it is undeniably being driven by God’s Spirit. It is mutually daunting responsibility and awesome pleasure.

Your words of support and encouragement – and your continued prayers --sustain us all.

Community Church

Call Committee Update (Feb 18)

This chapter in the call process of moving beyond the initial stage of interviews carries with it a real sense of excitement, while also bittersweet. We have been enriched by meeting candidates with considerable talents that dovetail with the ministry of Holy Trinity, yet in the course of narrowing the field of candidates for further consideration, are obliged to release from the process pastors with great depth and passion for ministry.

With the assurance that each pastor chosen for final interviews is formidably matched with Holy Trinity’s ministry, we set about the task of discerning which is best suited. In this time before hearing candidates preach at the end of February and early March, we continue to fine-tune questions for our second conversations to follow.

Community Church

Call Committee Update

This past Saturday we met in conversation with the fourth candidate in the initial stage of interviews, finding for the most part increasing confidence in the pool of candidates from which we will choose our next lead pastor. We also reviewed additional mobility papers and made decisions about what we believe to be the final candidates for the first round of interviews. At this time we know of three more candidates we plan to interview during January, which will complete the first round of interviews. Candidates we have selected to interview are inclusive of gender and age, and cover a wide range of experiences.

Lynda Nordholm, on behalf of the Call Committee

Community Church

Call Committee Update (December 17, 2007)

Waiting surrounds us during Advent – and the call process is no exception to this. We are waiting – for information on candidates, -- for response from candidates -- in anticipation of interviews. And we wait together as a congregation.

In her book, “Seven Spiritual Gifts of Waiting”, Holly Whitcomb (a UCC minister) writes: “When we face an extended period of waiting, we have an opportunity to engage in a radical kind of patience that can take us beyond surviving -- to thriving. We can partner with the waiting rather than treat it as the enemy. We can involve ourselves in an active waiting that opens doors, creates opportunities, and stretches our minds, bodies, and souls. While waiting may necessitate a certain powerlessness, this does not mean giving up intelligence, action, and hope. Active waiting teaches us to trust that each small step is part of a larger process – a process in which we can participate with steady determination and lively expectation.”

Waiting together with steady determination and lively expectation as we look forward to interviews in January.

Lynda Nordholm, on behalf of the Call Committee

Community Church

Call Committee Update (December 10, 2007)

Our congregation is experiencing Advent in a new way this year – as we eagerly wait for word of a new pastor, and ponder just how the gifts and skills of this person will integrate with and offer new light to the mission and vision that is Holy Trinity.

A sense of excitement is bubbling as we look forward to interviews with four candidates the first weeks of January – and the conversations we will have together. More candidates are being contacted by the synod, while names from national sources continue to come our way.

Lynda Nordholm, on behalf of the Call Committee

Community Church

Call Committee Update (December 3, 2007)

“Another step forward” is a key phrase that we on the Call Committee use often in relating our progress. Some of these steps are quite small – almost undistinguishable – while others signify great strides. Yet these steps are affirmation that we are indeed moving forward, step by step.

For the committee, a noteworthy step forward came this week when we conducted a mock interview. This coaching helped to further our sense of being prepared and confident that in this first round of interviews we are connecting on issues essential to Holy Trinity’s ministry. Candidates chosen for initial interviews are now being contacted.

Lynda Nordholm, on behalf of the Call Committee

Community Church

Call Committee Update

Our most recent meetings have centered on shaping interview questions that reflect the essence of Holy Trinity’s ministry. Later this week we will put these questions into practice as we conduct a mock interview.

Each call process is shaped by its unique time, context, and participants, but we are aware of always moving along in the process. It is apparent to those of us in the stream of this process that careful contemplation and purposeful discerning surround each meeting – and that we find pleasure and honor in working together on this endeavor.

Lynda Nordholm, on behalf of the Call Committee