Interim Moderator's duties

Having recently gone through a transition in ministry myself, I am keenly aware of some of the challenges faced both by the minister and his/her family and by the congregation. When congregations are healthy, they form deep relationships. Often the depth of these relationships is not known fully until they are uprooted. Yet there are times when God does call us on. When I left Brandon I reminded the people that had the previous minister never left, I never would have come! My personal experience is that it is a bit of a time in the wilderness. The familiar is no longer present and it seems to take longer than you expect to arrive at the next stage. Much depends on how one engages the wilderness. It can become a time of uncertainty and high anxiety or one can remember that God was as much present in the wilderness of Israel's experience as anywhere else. It was ultimately in the wilderness that God fashioned Israel as a people.

In the coming weeks and months we will follow a process to discern the next stage of leadership in the life of St. Andrew and St. Paul. A search committee has now been established. It will develop a congregational profile and submit it to the Presbytery for approval. The position will be advertised in The Presbyterian Record and other applicable journals. A plan will be established for taking care of the day to day operations of the congregation. Profiles will be received and reviewed by the Search Committee. When the committee feels that it has a candidate it believes would be suitable as lead minister for St. Andrew and St. Paul it will forward the name to the Session. If the Session agrees, interviews will follow and the candidate will be asked to preach for a call. A congregational meeting will be called and you, as a congregation, will decide if you confirm God's call for this person to lead you in your ministry and mission in this time and place.

There will be monthly updates to the Session and the congregation so that everyone knows where we are in the process. As we go through the process I would encourage you to spend time in prayer for the congregation and for Richard and the family. I think it is unwise to suggest that these transitions are not difficult. I think it is also unwise not to recognize that it is often in times of transition that we learn a great deal about ourselves and about the amazing faithfulness of God.

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