While our committee was formed in December, due to delays with the congregational profile (the MSP) being completed, and a change with our contact person at the Synod, we were unable to have our first official meeting until January.
As some background for you, here’s the typical process a call committee in the ELCA follows:
The call committee receives a RMP from our synod contact. A RMP is a rostered minister profile (think resume for the candidate).
The call committee reviews the RMP and decides if we want to set up an interview with that candidate. In our case, each first interview for all candidates has been done by Zoom. If we feel the candidate may be a fit, we have then set up an in-person interview.
At this point, we have done a number of Zoom interviews, and then some in-person interviews. The call committee has found some suitable candidates, we have indicated a candidate of choice, but have been turned down, for various reasons.
We are continuing the process, and when we do have a candidate of choice come back with a positive response, we will then make the recommendation to the Council to vote to approve the candidate.
Then the Council will call a special meeting of the congregation, to vote to approve the call.
As of now, we are in regular contact with Pastor Heather at our synod office, who continues to provide suitable RMPs as they are available. Keep in mind, there are many openings in our SW MN Synod, and
the candidate pool is limited.
Please respect that our ability to give details is limited. Information on candidates is confidential.
Our nine-person call committee has been very committed to this process. All of this takes time – scheduling the interviews, meeting with the candidates and evaluating the information. We want to get this right!
We’re fortunate for now to have Pastor Elizabeth here as our interim pastor. Many congregations in the call process are having a hard time finding an interim pastor.
We ask for your patience and prayers. We will continue to update the congregation along the way.
[Call Committee members include: Chair Dave Meyer; Secretary Kayla Muenchow; Candidate Communicator Mark Johnson; Council Representative Linda Simonson; Sara Brown, Elisa Dording, Eldean Enderson, Kurt Landin, and Karin Ramige.]
The Call Committee received five Rostered Minister Profiles (RMPs) from the Synod on February 14th. We contacted four of the candidates (one accepted a call with another parish within a day of us getting the RMPs.
We conducted zoom interviews of candidates, two on the 24th and two on the 26th of February. Of the four candidates, we selected two to interview in person. Those interviews were conducted on the 12th and 14th of March.
The interviews went very well, and our committee had long discussions about the candidates and whether we collectively thought that either candidate was one that we would recommend to serve at Christ Lutheran.
We took a few days to think and pray on this and ultimately had a meeting on March 20th to discuss how to proceed. We came to a unanimous consensus to proceed with one of the candidates. The individual was contacted the following morning and asked to be our candidate of choice. This person asked for a couple of days to consider it and ultimately contacted us back on Wednesday indicating that they had chosen a different parish to pursue a call.
During this process we have been in regular contact with the Synod, and they are in the process of sending us paperwork on additional candidates to consider.
I know it is difficult, but please try to understand that finding the right candidate can be a long process. The Call Committee is extremely dedicated and committed to this task and will put in however much time and effort is needed to find the Pastor that we feel can best serve this parish.
Respectively Submitted,
David Meyer
Chairman, Christ Lutheran Call Committee
[Additional Call Committee members include: Secretary Kayla Muenchow; Candidate Communicator Mark Johnson; Council Representative Linda Simonson; Sara Brown, Elisa Dording, Eldean Enderson, Kurt Landin, and Karin Ramige.]
The call committee started by meeting with a representative from the synod and the vision team to talk about the Ministry Site Profile (MSP). Once that was done the vision team left and the call committee continued the meeting by discussing the call process, assigning some individual duties within the committee and just generally get things started.
We followed that by having a number of our own meetings to decide how we will conduct the interviews along with determining which questions that will be asked once we conduct an interview.
In an effort to ensure we conduct a thorough and effective interview the synod assisted us by providing the name of a pastor that would participate in a mock interview and provide feedback to us. This helped us a great deal and we learned a lot from the exercise.
Respectfully Submitted,
David Meyer
Chairman, Christ Lutheran Call Committee
L: Holy God, thank you for Daris Remus, Dennis Davis, Marilyn Ueland, Parker O’Donnell, Alex Schons, Erin Sauter, Council President Vicky Harris, and Pastor Elizabeth, the Vision Team, who researched and analyzed data, and produced a mission profile to help prospective candidates to understand God’s mission for Christ Lutheran and for Jodi Braband and Erin Sauter who skillfully crafted the profile into the document which will be published soon. C: Amen.
L: Dear Christian Friends: Baptized into the priesthood of Christ, we are all called to offer ourselves to the Lord of the Church in thanksgiving for what he has done and continues to do for us. It is our privilege to recognize and support those who are engaged in the work of this congregation, especially those selected to serve as members of the call committee.
These people will issue the mission profile, accept applications from candidates, and will submit their recommendations to the Council and to the congregation. The call committee members are:
Sara Brown, Elisa Dording, Eldean Enderson, Kurt Landin, Mark Johnson, Dave Meyer, Kayla Muenchow, Karin Ramige, and Linda Simonson
L: Having offered yourselves to serve on the call committee of this congregation, will you follow our Lord’s example of humble service?
Call Committee Response: Yes, with God’s help.
L: Let us pray:
Congregation: O God of love, your Son washed the feet of his disciples as a sign of servanthood. Uphold those who follow his example of humble service, and strengthen them in their faith. Guide and direct these servants who will lead this congregation in the selection of the one who will be called as pastor. Give them wisdom and discernment. Let your Holy Spirit guide and direct them in all that they do. Help us all to serve you faithfully in thought, word, and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
L: For all who offer themselves in your name, we give thanks, O God. Give them the joy of service and constant care and guidance. Help us all to be both willing servants and thankful recipients of ministry, that your name be glorified, your people live in peace, and your will be done; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
