Transition Update #6: Pastor Search Committee Announced

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Dear FBW Family,

It is with great excitement that we share this latest update in our transition process. Please see the update below submitted by Carla Thomas, chair of the Nominating Committee. 

On behalf of the Nominating Committee, I would like to share some information with you regarding the Pastoral Search Committee and how we got to this moment. This evening at the business meeting, we presented the following information which was put to a vote and passed.

The process started with each of you - you attended listening sessions, participated in the survey and prayed for those on the Transition Team as they prepared and presented the profile for our church. Then you provided names, 69 separate names to be exact, with a total of 198 nominations.

A few additional statistics: of those 69 nominees:

  • 37 are women, 32 men;

  • 22 prefer a contemporary style of worship, while 47 prefer a more traditional style of worship;

  • the age breakdown of those nominated is as follows:

    • 34 and under- 4 individuals

    • 35-44- 6 individuals

    • 45-54- 8 individuals

    • 55-64- 9 individuals

    • 65-74- 25 individuals

    • 75 and above- 15 individuals

    • and 2 individuals that the church records didn't provide us the information to know which age group that they fall into.

And again, you prayed over those nominated. The Nominating Committee came alongside you and prayed over these names. We sought some guidance from a variety of resources, reviewed the church profile and survey results ourselves and compiled the above referenced statistics to put together our list of nominees. The diversity of this group was important to us and we spent time reviewing the statistics to ensure that all of the areas important to you were represented: worship style, age, gender and previous search committee experience.

Those that rose to the top were chosen based on the resounding number of times they were nominated. They were then provided with a cover letter from the nominating committee, the profile and the survey results created by the Transition Team and the request to pray for wisdom and discernment in seeking God's call over them for such an important responsibility. You should know that all of them took time to review, pray and ask questions.

At this time, the Nominating Committee is confident that the team nominated by you, selected by our committee, and accepted by each of the nominees will be a strong and dedicated team. It is with great joy and confidence that these individuals will represent the congregation well and aide us in finding a new pastor that takes us into the future.

The Pastoral Search Committee will be made up of: Libby Allen, Laurie Landes, Ed Morse, Seth Price, Devin Roller, Cheryl Rosberg, Jeremy Rowe, Susan Shiflet as the Chair, and Tom Woodworth as the Vice-Chair. As we move forward, the Nominating Committee asks that each of you continue to be in prayer for our Search Committee as well as for the person (and their family) that God is already preparing to be our next pastor.

Respectfully submitted by the Nominating Committee
Debbie Boling, Chris Furr, Mike Hartzler, Mary Kane, Katherine Megginson, Alan Melton, and Carla Thomas (Chair)