| Transition corner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Exit Interview with Rev Mark Dowdy: May, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Frequently Asked Questions about the Process | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Planning Committee Charter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Transition Team Report | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Summer Pulpit Supply | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| THANKS EVERYONE !! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Welcome Tammy ! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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July 15, 2010: The Council had a special
meeting in the evening of July 15 to meet the candidate recommended by
the interim pastor hiring committee. The Council interviewed
the candidate and enthusiastically accepted the Reverend Tammy Stampfli
to be our interim pastor and help us make the transition during the next
two years to a settled pastor. |
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Reverend Stampfli lives in |
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WHAT HAPPENS NOW ? John Bowden, Planning Committee |
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On January 10, Pastor Mark Dowdy announced that he will retire at the end of May. Maybe you are wondering what happens next and when we will have a new pastor. If you attended the Congregational meeting on Sunday you got the best answers currently available, but if you weren’t there or would like a little recap this article is for you. Council, in anticipation of Mark’s retirement, assembled a Planning Committee to help the church through the necessary steps leading to the call of a new permanent pastor. The Planning Committee was charged with developing a transition process and ensuring that communication takes place. The Planning Committee consists of Janet Anderson, Joe Arnett, John Bowden, Brian Hovis, Lee Johnson, Cheri Kelly, and Marcia Smith. At the Congregational meeting, Planning Committee members shared a timeline of the transition steps and provided answers to questions about the transition. |
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Joan Knapp , Church Moderator, presented Council’s recommended candidates to be members of the Intentional Interim Pastor Seeking Committee. The candidates were then approved by those in attendance at the Congregational meeting.The Interim Pastor Seeking Committee (IPSC) includes Leslie Cushman as a Council representative, Mike Segawa from the Personnel Ministry, Brian Hovis from the Planning Committee, and Deborah Reynolds and Bob McMullen representing the congregation at large. Even though the IPSC will begin work very soon, we will be without a leader for approximately one month between Mark's retirement and the arrival of the interim pastor. This is part of a proven process to give us a clean break and provide a time to grieve Mark’s departure. During this time, Council will make sure we have pulpit support and that crucial pastoral duties are provided. The IPSC will work with the UCC Conference Minister and the Presbytery Executive to find an interim pastor who has the training and experience to help us in working through any conflicts; acknowledging and learning from the past; clarifying our identity and purpose; deciding what is important to carry into the future; committing to new leadership; and building consensus and excitement about a shared vision for the future. The interim pastor will be with us for about a year. While the intentional interim pastor is with us, a permanent senior pastor selection committee will be formed. It is too early to know who will be on that committee, but the committee will be selected based on individual skills and various demographic aspects of the church, but will represent the church as a whole. The Planning Committee charter, a Question and Answer paper, and a timeline are available on the church website and in the Narthex. The Planning Committee will be providing more in-depth information about the transition as we go. Look for articles in the Voice focusing on specific steps and progress toward calling a new senior pastor. |
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| Exit Interview with Rev Mark Dowdy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Exit Interview with Mark, May 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On May 1, Reverend Dowdy had an exit interview with Council facilitated
by Reverend Longfield, Presbytery Executive and Reverend Mike Denton,
UCC Conference Minister. The
exit interview has insights for us as a church, which we will consider
as we move through the transition period and engage in holy
conversations.
Questions asked during the exit interview are italicized.
Revered Dowdy’s responses are paraphrased below the question.
Not all are included.
Describe what you see as the changes in the congregation and its mission
and ministry over the course of your time with us.
·
Emergence of lay leadership.
·
Decrease in size of the congregation.
The mission of the congregation is still strong and viable.
·
Dealing with Open and Affirming.
·
The Family Worship Experience.
In the context of the current, external religious environment, what do
you see as the primary challenges to the life and ministry of a mainline
church like our own as we proceed into the future?
·
Ministry to the aging while welcoming newer, younger families.
·
Respect and support for the two denominations.
·
Finances, in the context of demographic change and greater economic
pressure on young families.
·
Tension between orthodoxy and progressive theology in the life of this
church.
·
Taking risks and working through differences of opinion.
What particular strengths and gifts should we be looking for in your
successor?
·
Boundaries around work and rest.
·
Appreciation of the variety of music and worship styles.
·
Ability to nurture and encourage staff.
What have been the satisfactions and disappointments you have
experienced in your relationships with us?
·
Tension caused by differing expectations of the pastoral role.
·
Limited acceptance of new ideas for program or worship or outreach.
·
Working with Stephen Ministry and Caring Friends.
·
Still unresolved expectations of the relationships between ministries
and staff.
Are there ways in which we might have been more supportive of you and
your ministry and which you would urge us to consider for our
relationship with your successor?
·
Clarify expectations of the role of the Council, the ministries, and the
pastor.
·
Personnel could have been more supportive, especially at the beginning.
What, in retrospect, do you wish you might have done differently in your
ministry with us?
·
Be less impulsive, more aware of listening to the other side.
What things do you like to think of as your legacy to us from our
ministry together?
·
The involvement of Stephen Ministry and Caring Friends.
·
Nurturing seven or eight people into ministry.
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Nurturing staff and allowing each of them to thrive and succeed.
·
Being known as a loving person.
·
Being involved with the interfaith and secular community.
·
Being open, vulnerable, and sharing of myself.
What “out of the box” thinking would you prescribe for us?
·
Be willing to modify worship space, if needed.
·
Eliminate the Sunday School for kids and do Family Worship Experience
each week throughout the year.
Have Sunday School be a time of worship.
·
Have kids in youth choir.
Dump regular choir two of the four weeks in the month.
·
Do something with the Sunday School space. |