Saturday, October 9, 2010

Committee Update #8

Saturday October 9



Sorry it has been a few weeks since our last update. We have been meeting weekly; diligently working through our process, and we have a few updates:


1) We were officially complete with the "organizational" phase of our search about the first week of September. This phase usually takes committees approximately 2-3 months to work through. Our first meeing was June 23, so this phase took us about 2 1/2 months. This phase is a very important phase in the search as the committee develops a profile of the senior minister, defines who they are as a church, and begins to formulate the search process. Although we were not engaging candidates during this phase, we were building the important, necessary foundation to begin engaging candidates.

2) As part of our organizational phase, we developed a "Friends of HPC" list. As we mentioned in Update #4, the list is comprised of key individuals, mainly in our denomination, who may have some knowledge about our church and knowledge of candidates searching for a church. This may include current pastors in the PCA, members of our presbytery, people associated with seminaries, etc. We are planning on heavily leaning on this "Friends" list to help provide us with names of potential candidates.

3) We have contacted most everyone on our "Friends" list. A large percentage of the candidates we are visiting with have been provided by members of the "Friends" list.

4) Approximately a month ago, we entered into the phase of actually engaging candidates. This currently involves reviewing candidates' resumes, listening to sermons, and visiting with them via video conference.

Our next meetings are scheduled for October 15, October 21, and October 27.

Prayer Requests:

1) Please pray for God to lead and direct this search. Please pray that the committee would use His wisdom as we engage the candidates. Please pray that God would clearly reveal who the next pastor of HPC is.

2) Please pray for the committee members and their families during this search. As I indicated, we are meeting weekly and spending time during the week evaluating the candidates. It is a blessing to do this work. Please pray for God to strengthen our families during this time and give us the time we need to dedicate to this important task God has laid before us.

Blessings!

HPC Pastor Search Committee


Monday, August 30, 2010

Committee Update #7

Monday August 30

Please note that this Wednesday night (09/01), the Pastor Search Committee will be briefly updating the congregation on our progress after the Fellowship Meal.

Also, during the Sunday School hour on Sunday 09/05, Pastor Shawn will be going over some information on the qualifications and job duties of a senior pastor, which will help the congregation better understand what we are looking for in candidates.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Committee Update #6

August 25, 2010



The committee met on Monday night August 23rd. We would like to update the congregation on the following items:



1) We have completed our "Senior Minister Profile" and our Application. We are nearly complete with our Church Profile.



2) We have begun to contact our "friends of HPC" list and have started receiving names of potential candidates from them.



3) We have officially started taking applications of interested candidates! This is our first step for a candidate in the HPC Pastor search process. This begins a shift in our committee's focus from the foundational work of organizing and preparing, into the actual process of engaging candidates. We have already taken a few applications and are preparing for discussions with some of the men. Praise God!

Our next meeting is Thursday September 2.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Committee Update #5

The committee met on Saturday August 7th. The committee is continuing to work on our church information packet and this is currently the main item we are working on. We would mainly like to update our prayer requests:

1) Please pray for our upcoming meeting on Saturday August 14th. We hope to have most of the content for the packet complete by this day and then begin the process of compiling the information together in a nice package.

2) Please pray as we begin to "formalize" the process in which we will handle each pastoral candidate.

3) Please pray for the "Friends of HPC" list. Pray that God would lead us to godly men who will assist us in identifying candidates for our pulpit.

Thank you for your prayers!

Our upcoming meetings our scheduled for Saturday August 14, Monday August 23, and Friday September 3rd.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Committee Update #4

07/29/2010



The committee met on Wednesday evening 07/28/2010. We would like to update the congregation on the following items:



1) We very much appreciate every one's participation in the online survey. The survey is now closed. We had a very good response and your answers are greatly helping us in our information gathering.



2) The committee is busily reading and listening to various resources provided to us regarding the calling of a pastor. Thank you everyone for your recommendations. We are continuing to glean wisdom from various places to bring to bear on our church's search. If you have any resources for us, please see one of the committee members.



3) The committee is continuing to work on our church information packet which we will give to each prospect. This packet will contain information about our church including a description of the call, specific traits we are looking for in a minister, some biographical data on our church, and a description of our vision. We hope to finish this packet in the upcoming weeks.



4) After the completion of the church informational packet, we will be closer to actually starting a dialogue with the prospects. We hope to begin engaging prospects in September. We have already received some interest in our church from a few men.



5) The committee is developing what we are calling a "friends of HPC" list. This list will be comprised of key individuals in our denomination, or closely affiliated with our denomination who may have some knowledge about our church and have some knowledge of candidates who are searching for a church. This may include current pastors in the PCA, members of our presbytery, people associated with seminaries, etc. We plan on heavily relying on this "friends of HPC" list to help provide us with names of men who would be excellent candidates. If you know of anyone we should consider for this list, please notify a committee member.

Also, just a reminder that this Sunday (08/1), the PSC will be giving a brief update to the congregation immediately before the Sunday School hour in the new fellowship hall. We will also have a brief time for questions.



Our next committe meeting is Saturday August 7th.



Prayer Requests



1. Please pray as we complete our church informational packet. Pray that we are concise and clear in communicating the "call" and in describing our church.



2. Please pray that we can begin engaging candidates in September.



3. Please pray for the "Friends of HPC" list. Pray that God would lead us to Godly men who can assist us in identifying candidates for our pulpit.



4. Please pray for the physical and spiritual health of the committee members.



5. Please pray that the committee would empty ourselves of man's wisdom and rely only on God's wisdom during this process.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Committee Update #3



The Pastoral Search Committee (PSC) has compiled a congregational survey as part of the search process. The survey is available online and the PSC encourages everyone who has a computer to please take the survey online as this will greatly help the committee. If you do not have computer access, please ask one of the committee members and they will get you a paper copy.

The PSC encourages everyone to please take the survey as soon as possible, as this will provide important information to them. They would like to have most surveys completed this week. Please put your name on the survey as surveys with no name will not be considered. All surveys will be confidential and will only be viewed by the PSC and the session.

Please note the first page pertains to "Congregational Priorities" (for HPC) and the second page is "Pastoral Strengths Desired" (for the pastor ONLY.)

SURVEY LINK (CLICK ON THE LINK)

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s_pass.aspx?sm=L33%2bilu1sxsAzHRgrrz0oA%3d%3d




The password to the survey is pastorsearch

If you have any questions, please contact a member of the pastoral search committee.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Committee Update #2

07/07/2010

The pastoral search committee jointly met with the session on Wednesday July 7, 2010. This was the first meeting between the two groups. The main items of discussion consisted of:

1) Pastor Wes and Pastor Shawn gave the committee a brief summary of the recently completed PCA General Assembly. We talked about the “Strategic Plan” as voted on by the Assembly. It is important for the Committee to consider our prospective candidates' view on the significant issues facing our denomination.

2) The Pastoral Search Committee informed the Session of their intent to “survey” the congregation as part of the search process. All agreed that a congregational survey would be beneficial. Details and instructions will be given to the congregation on Sunday July 11th.

3) As the committee prepares the church informational packets for prospective candidates, we will be communicating the “vision” of HPC. This vision has been carefully prepared by the Session over the last several months.

4) The Committee began discussing a “timeline” for preparing church informational packets. Before we begin engaging with candidates, the committee has to prepare some material including a Church Profile, Senior Minister Profile, and an application. It is the committee’s intent to get the information completed as soon as possible so we can get to the phase of actually interviewing candidates. This is a critical stage of the process that will include the updating of our church website.

5) The Session emphasized their committment to supporting the work of the committee in any way possible as they are eager to expedite the process in anyway they can.

The committee’s next meeting is Saturday July 17.

Committee Update #1

07/04/2010


The pastoral search committee met briefly with the congregation prior to the Sunday School hour on Sunday July 4, 2010. The committee communicated the following items to the congregation:

1) The committee elected officers in their first meeting. The officers will consist of:
SECRETARY: Bryan Peck
VICE-CHAIRMAN: Gary Peabody
CHAIRMAN: Michael Dudleson

The committee has set their meeting schedule for the next few weeks. We will be meeting about four times per month for the foreseeable future.

2) One of the first items the committee discussed was regular, detailed communication to the congregation. The committee wants to keep the congregation as informed as possible without compromising the process. The two major forms of communication will be:


a. BLOG: A Blog has been set up on the internet. A blog is basically an “internet diary”. The Blog will be used to give regular updates on the committee and to also give very specific prayer requests so the saints of Heritage can be praying with us at each step in the process.
The BLOG address is http://hpcpsc.blogspot.com/


b. IN PERSON MEETINGS – The committee will plan on giving a brief update to the congregation on the first Sunday of each month. The meeting will be at approximately 10:50AM prior to the Sunday School hour. The next few meetings will be:
August 1; September 5; October 3; November 7; December 5

3) If anyone in the congregation has any names to be considered for candidates, please contact one of the committee members. Additionally, the committee gladly welcomes any wisdom from the congregation.


4) Some have asked about a timeline for the process. One “study” in the PCA showed the average senior pastor search process to take 14-16 months. This is simply an average. We pray that God will send us a man in His timing.

PRAYER REQUESTS

HPC Pastor Search Committee Prayer Requests:


1. Please pray for the upcoming meeting with the Session on July 7th as we prepare the Church information packet that will communicate an overview of our church regarding our mission, philosophy of ministry, objectives, and vision to all prospective candidates.


2. Please pray that search committee members' spiritual lives will be healthy during this process as we seek to be sensitive to the Lord’s leading during each phase of the search process.


3. Please pray that our work will proceed thoroughly and expeditiously and will not be slowed by any external distractions or pressures.


4. Please pray that God will begin to place a clear and compelling call in the life of the shepherd He has chosen to serve amongst us as our next Senior Pastor.