May 8, 2024 - Letter from Session

May 8, 2024
 


Dear Christ Pres Family,


As we all process together the news of Kevin and the Germer family leaving, we want to assure you of our love for you and commitment to you. We are grieving our loss of the Germer family as well as celebrating how God is leading them to a new season of ministry and closer proximity to Kevin’s parents.  


We know that this will not be an easy journey for any of us, yet we also have faith that the Lord is our good Shepherd. As ordained elders, we have been elected by you to oversee, together with the pastor, the spiritual health of the congregation as well as the congregation’s faithfulness to God’s mission. We will continue to serve in this capacity, by God’s grace.


Since Kevin has been our pastor for 17 years, it’s been many years since we have been through the process of finding a new pastor. We’re sure this raises many questions for you. We are thankful that we are part of the East Central Presbytery, and the ECO, our denomination, has written a very comprehensive manual with guidelines about how to navigate through this transition process. They have a number of recommendations that we are reviewing, and we are reassured that they have outlined a good process for us. We will keep you regularly updated along the way. Here are a few things that might be helpful to know at this point:

 

  • Kevin will be with us until Sunday, June 2. We’ll have a time of testimonies, a congregational meeting, and a potluck lunch together on that date.
     

  • Similar to what we did when Kevin was on sabbatical in 2022:

    • Kevin is lining up guest preachers, including some from within Christ Pres, through the end of September. 

    • We have designated elders-on-call for the months of June, July, August, and September.

    • We will make available a Who Does What list shortly.
       

  • The Session is meeting regularly and frequently. After Kevin leaves, Bob Andrews will function as the moderator of Session. Some of our tasks in the coming weeks will be to define/refine the Christ Pres mission, pastor job description, church profile, and the process for forming a Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC). This process is defined by the ECO, and we will need to make some edits to our Bylaws so that they are in line with the ECO’s recommendations.  

 

One question that may be coming up for you is, “How long will this take?” We don’t know the answer to that, but we are committed to working steadily and diligently in this transition time. We welcome your prayers as we seek the Lord’s wisdom and discernment, unity in decisions, and the stability and well-being of the congregation.


Please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us if you have questions or concerns. We are in this together!

 

Love in Christ, 


Karen Carr

Judy Hounsel

Jeremy McEntire

Makenzie Smith

Kathy Wibberly

Ev Worthington

(Your Session of Elders)

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