Sunday, June 07, 2020, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Members and Friends of LFPPC,
I trust this note finds you well and healthy as we continue to navigate through this time of social distancing in light of the global pandemic. This certainly marks an unprecedented time in our lives and in our collective life as a congregation. I’m grateful for your faithful participation in the life of our church as we attempt to find ways to stay in touch and to remain engaged in the ministry we all share in our community.
This update comes in anticipation of our congregational meeting on June 7. This meeting has been called for the purpose of electing nominees to an Associate Pastor Nominating Committee (APNC), which is the next step in our process of calling an associate pastor to serve among us in the area of family ministry. This was first announced at a congregational meeting held in September of last year, but that seems like eons ago! With that in mind, I thought it would be helpful to provide a refresher to that information and let you know where we are going forward especially in light of developments since then.
In the spring of 2019, session commissioned the 2020 Vision Team to make recommendations on staff transitions we anticipated with Pastor Mike’s pending retirement in December of that year. Their work involved completing a demographic study of our community, reflecting on Pacific Northwest culture that has a bearing on ministry, surveying the congregation to develop insight on LFPPC’s self-understanding, values, and priorities for ministry, and upon assessment of this data, suggesting several staffing options for session’s consideration as they made decisions for ministry going forward. During their work, you’ll recall that the Youth Director position also became part of the equation when Jeff Dennis resigned to accept a position as a school counselor.
The 2020 Vision Team’s report to session identified children’s ministry, youth ministry, and service opportunities as primary values closely held by our congregation. This information coupled with demographic data showing our congregation’s location in a cluster of households with children led the session’s decision to invest in family ministry by beginning the process to call an associate pastor to serve the congregation. In making this an ordained position, session honored the congregation’s strongly expressed value for the spiritual formation of children and youth, and for the opportunity to provide pastoral care and counseling to the entire family. Given the financial obligation to support this position, session made the decision to absorb the position of Director of Ministry to Children and their Families into the Associate Pastor call thereby reducing the number of professional staff. Under this model, program staff would consist of a Senior Pastor, an Associate Pastor, and a Director of Ministry to Youth. This was reported at the congregational meeting in September of 2019.
In establishing this process, session created three month updates to assess the viability of this plan in terms of congregational need, missional opportunity, and financial sustainability. At each of these points thus far session has seen the continuing growth of children’s ministry, a robust relationship with MOPS (a community outreach to Mothers of Pre-Schoolers), a strong, collaborative relationship with Pepitas, and faithful financial giving on the part of the congregation. Given these metrics, session continued the process of developing this model by presenting the proposal for this call to COM (the Committee on Ministry in the Northwest Coast Presbytery), gaining COM’s approval for the call and their assignment of a presbytery representative to act as liaison in the process. The LFPPC nominating committee was charged with finding nominees to form the APNC which directs the process for the congregation.
AND THEN...the coronavirus pandemic emerged, which, of course, no-one could have anticipated. That contingency was not factored into the process, and, as we have all experienced, it has impacted us in ways we did not foresee. Given all the uncertainties associated with this, we might well wonder how this impacts the process in which we’re engaged.
Session has had many discussions about this over the past months. This contingency has become part of our conversation and we have continued to assess the metrics governing this process. We’ve had to begin thinking at two different levels on this: our current situation, and what the future needs are likely to be as we eventually emerge from this crisis.
Though the nature of our ministry has changed in terms of how it is provided, the need for it remains. Perhaps now more than ever families are experiencing new dynamics pressuring family dynamics as home now functions as office, school, and church. These dynamics are stressful enough when everyone is healthy, they multiply if and when someone in the family suffers illness, or job insecurity, or child-care options for essential on-site workers have dried up. The need for robust family ministry remains. Financially, through your faithful stewardship, the congregation remains financially stable, for which we thank God and you. We remain in conversation with our Pepitas community, some of whom are participating in the larger church family virtually, in which we are delighted and hope to build on that relational connection going forward. LFPPC is a resilient and faithful congregation and because of this we remain capable of continuing in this process.
When we eventually emerge from the immediate crisis, the value we place on family ministry remains primary, and the need for it might well increase as people search for meaning and purpose in a redefined world. Providing resources and ministry for establishing new norms and structures for families seeking alternatives will become crucial. We want to capitalize on the window of opportunity that will be open as social distancing diminishes. As families avail themselves of resources we offer, we build relationships of trust that may well bear fruit for the kingdom of God.
As mentioned above, session continues to assess the process on a regular basis, and there is a “reality check” built into this APNC process where session is consulted for confirmation of available resources and future sustainability before the APNC would make an offer to a candidate. We trust that God has led us to this place and process, and we trust God for continued direction as we listen and move accordingly.
The only item of business for the meeting on June 7 is the election of those nominated to serve on the APNC. They are: Paul Heffner, Anne Kalkbrenner, Sean Rhodes, Donna Bensley, Gretchen Crouch, Dana Bartlett, and Stacie Johnson. Please be praying for these nominees, for the process, and for God’s outcome in all of this.
We will be doing this meeting via Zoom. If you do email, you can do Zoom. You must register for the meeting by sending your name and email contact information to . Do this as soon as possible so that our session clerk can verify the membership list. We will send out a link to the meeting in the week prior to the meeting. For the purposes of accurate vote counts and equal opportunity for input, our polity requires that each person signing into the meeting do so on an individual device, meaning that you must have as many devices as persons for participation in the meeting. Zoom meetings can be joined using your computer, tablets, Smartphones, and landline telephone. The instructions for joining the meeting will be contained in the email invitation you receive.
If you have questions or need assistance in accessing Zoom, you can reach us through . Thanks for sticking with a l-o-n-g note! Blessings!
Warmly, —frank