The Saint Luke Call Committee has been meeting regularly, preparing for when the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (SEPA Synod of the ELCA) sends them a candidate profile to begin interviewing for a second pastor. The committee is chaired by Pastor Mary Konopka, and includes members Jodi Cunniffe, Paul DiSciascio, Gillian Heckert-Mitchell, Sparky Lok, and Morgan Miller.
Pastor Mary said the Call Committee has been following the synod’s four phase Pastoral Transition Process. A resource the call committee has been using in their preparations is the Pastoral Transition: A Guide for Lay Leaders.
The guide describes the four phases of transition and offers resources for each phase. The synod says the congregations is encouraged to carry the transition process through all four phases, continuing with the recommended practices as a new pastor is called and installed. This ensures that the mission and vision Saint Luke has worked so hard to create and which forms a connection between the new pastor and the congregation continues to be intentionally implemented.
Pastor Mary said that Saint Luke’s call process is modified because unlike calling a new pastor, we are calling a second pastor. One additional step is added. The lead Pastor interviews the candidate prior to the Call Committee interview to determine some measure of working compatibility and ‘green lights’ the candidate to proceed with the interview. Of course, this Call process is unique as it follows a train of unforeseen events during the last couple of years: Pastor Sue’s strokes, subsequent retirement, a pandemic, and then our calling Pastor Matt as our lead pastor.
The Call Committee has completed the first two phases of the process (After a Pastor Retires and Self-Study and Visioning Profile, Congregational Profile), which included reviewing the congregation’s self-study and the church council’s Ministry Site Profile (MSP), which tells a candidate more about our church, its history, it’s mission and values, and its ministries. The Call Committee has entered the third phase having received a candidate to interview and is in the process of scheduling that Interview.
The committee also met with the Rev. Christopher Franz, Dean of the Chester County Conference of SEPA Synod, and pastor at Advent Lutheran Church in West Chester, PA, to conduct a mock (practice) interview and finalize the questions they will ask the pastoral candidates. Pastor Franz provided feedback and guidance on the questions to the Call Committee.
On May 31, SEPA Synod submitted a candidate to the Call Committee and they will soon be conducting interviews. They will also observe the candidate at a neutral site to hear them preach.
Once the call committee has completed interviews with candidates and have completed their work, they will move to phase four, where they would formally recommend a candidate to the church council to call as our second pastor. Throughout the process, Saint Luke has worked to develop its vision of the future to which God is calling it and will call a second pastor it believes will lead Saint Luke in pursuing its vision. Once approved by the council and called to Saint Luke, the congregation will welcome our second pastor.
This new partnership is celebrated with a formal call and an installation service. Rather than set aside the work of this transition process, the synod says it is important for the new pastor and congregation to work on implementing its vision together. The arrival of the second pastor, the synod says, is not a time when “things return to normal,” but it is continuation of the pastoral transition.