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| Jenny Buckley Council President |
Structure and Pastoral Staffing
With the departures of Pastors Diane and Mary, many people have been asking, when are we calling a new pastor and who that will be? First, let me remind you that a Pastoral Call Committee is in place and working hard as it goes about the task of calling a new pastor. As the committee does its work, the question that the council, leadership teams, and staff have been discussing is, “How can we support the vision and mission with our pastors, staff, and programs?”
As explained last week, the mission of Shepherd of the Valley (SOTV) is, “we exist as a community to discover, grow, and live into our individual relationships with Jesus Christ.” The four core ministries of worship, learn, connect, and care have been identified to support this mission.
Council and staff are beginning the process of evaluating everything we do as a church to determine where we are aligned with our mission and where there are currently gaps. Our resources, whether they be time, manpower, or money, will be best spent when they are invested in the priorities identified by our church.
Another area of discussion has been the pastoral staff model that our mission suggests. Council and staff agree that in order to implement our mission with fidelity, we need five full-time pastors at SOTV. In this structure, there would be a senior pastor that carries the vision and mission forward and then there would be one pastor assigned to each of the four core ministries of our mission.
This means that in addition to the senior pastor, we would have a pastor of worship, a pastor of learning, a pastor of connect (fellowship and service), and a pastor of care. Of course, all SOTV pastors would continue to collaborate in all areas of our mission. However, by aligning one pastor with each of the four core pillars of our mission, we will ensure that our resources are being used in the best ways and we are living our vision and mission with integrity.
Currently, we have three full-time pastors and a part-time interim pastor. Our priority is to call the Pastor of Connect first while also investigating the process for calling a Pastor of Worship.
Next week, I’ll explain the call process and update you on the work of the call committee. As always, please feel free to leave a comment below or contact me via the council e-mail: council@sotv.org.
Blessings,
Jenny Buckley-Church Council President
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