We want to update you on the status of our search for our next pastor. The overall process has two parts.
First, hire a Transitional (Interim) Pastor. Session appoints a search team to find a pastor who is a good fit to help River Glen through this transition time. The search team prepares a position posting in a format specified by PC(USA) called a Ministry Discernment Profile (MDP). The search team reviews and interviews promising candidates and recommends a selected Transitional Pastor to session. Session hires the Transitional Pastor for a one-year contract.
Second, the Transitional Pastor helps River Glen evaluate our needs, and prepare for our next installed pastor. A Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC) is nominated by the nominating committee and elected by the congregation. The PNC prepares a new Ministry Discernment Profile (MDP) position description. The PNC searches for, identifies and negotiates terms with a selected candidate. The PNC presents the candidate to the congregation who votes to approve the candidate and terms-of-call for our next installed pastor.
Status:
Session appointed a search team in May with Tom Barto, Rich Gorecki, Angela Bentsen, Melissa Meyer, and Jennifer Praveen. The team prepared a MDP for the Interim Pastor position and entered it into the PC(USA) search and matching system called Church Leadership Connection (CLC) for review and approval. The MDP was approved by River Glen session and Chicago Presbytery and went “live” June 29, 2023.
River Glen’s MDP is publicly posted on the CLC Opportunity page.
The search team has been receiving and reviewing pastor profiles called Personal Discernment Profiles (PDP) of potential candidates through the CLC system. The PC(USA) switched over to a new CLC system June 4, 2023 which River Glen is using. All positions and pastor profiles entered prior to June 4 are in the old, Legacy CLC system, and since June 4 all entries go to the new system. As with any new system there are transition issues. Most of the pastors seeking Transitional Pastor positions entered their profiles before June 4 in the Legacy CLC system. We have no way to access the Legacy CLC database so we are getting very few PDPs. We are working on ways to supplement the new CLC system, and are looking for referrals from members and friends. If you know someone who’s church had a good Interim / Transitional Pastor, please pass along the name and contact information to our email
We expect to have a Transitional Pastor hired by fall 2023, and likely a new installed pastor by fall 2024. Until then, we can enjoy some variety in the voices and perspectives of those proclaiming the Good News at River Glen.
Peace and blessings,
Your 2023 Session: Tom Barto, Bob Carr, Brian Gilbert, Rich Gorecki, Paula Hebert, Bill King, Christy Palangattil, Kalina Waszak.
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