Over the last 7 months, the selection committee, facilitated and guided by Dave Thurston, have been looking for a pastor whom we might call to be the senior pastor of Living Church. So far, this has included meeting together as a committee, discussing the criteria from congregational input, researching churches and pastors online and through our connections, collectively listening to around 150 hours of sermons and conducting some initial discussions with potential candidates.
On the whole, we’ve been greatly encouraged by the quality of faithful preaching we’ve heard. We feel grateful to live in a part of the world so rich in God-honouring teaching and pastoring.
That said, just as COVID-19 has affected the whole world, its impact has been felt in our process of finding a senior pastor. The move to online church has made listening and watching to varied sermons easy for us. However, we’ve discovered that the dispersion of so many churches has had differing impacts on many pastors.
We have approached a small number of pastors to enquire about their interest in discussing the role of senior pastor further. These discussions have been helpful, but as yet, and for a variety of reasons, no pastors have been in a position to have more serious discussions with us about being a candidate for the role.
We would love to present more news and more certainty of timeframe in which our church will be able to welcome a new senior pastor. However, as a church, we need not act anxiously in calling a senior pastor in these times and it would be unhelpful to do so. We as a Selection Committee will continue to trust God in His provision of a suitable pastor to lead our church. We are uncertain as to when that may be and whether we will have a candidate for the role in 2020.
We are as convicted as ever that, as a church, we need to be consistently praying. We need to be praying both that God would prepare and raise up a pastor for us, and that we can be a church who will partner well with that person in ministry. Would you please keep our future senior pastor, our church and the selection committee in your prayers.
We thank God for our staff team, board and church members who are continuing to lead together in this season, and we look forward to having a new pastor with whom we can give mutual encouragement and strive toward maturity in faith and godliness.
If you have questions about the process, we also invite you to ask those in the selection committee – Sandra Hinrichsen, John Wallace, Don Todman, Lorraine Eastwell, Lisa Tobin, Roddy McNicol, Dale Miller, Kent Howlett, Elmari Buchanan and Naomi Williams.