Senior Minister Search Timeline
The committee will be communicating with the congregation as to the status of our search on this webpage, in our Wednesday Weekly emails, and during Sunday worship services. Please check back frequently for updates.
Weekly Search Update from our Senior Pastor Search Committee! 1/22/24:
Greetings once again from the First Congo Search Committee!
As we communicated after the Christmas holiday, our committee has prayerfully deliberated on and selected the candidate we wish to present to you, the Congregation, to call as our next Senior Minister.
Since then, after completing all final references on the selected candidate, we formally presented the candidate to our Executive Committee. They unanimously agreed to bring the candidate before the Church Council for a vote of support. This presentation and vote will occur on Monday evening, January 27 at Church Council.
Under the assumption that this meeting will result in a clear vote of support of the candidate, the plan is to present the candidate to you-all, the Congregation, during our 10:00am service on Sunday, March 9. The date has been selected based upon both our church’s schedule and the candidate’s availability.
At this service, we’ll be formally introduced to the candidate through their introductory sermon. Immediately following this service, we’ll move to a Congregational Meeting at which time the Committee will formally present the candidate’s background and qualifications along with reactions from those who participated in the interview process. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions and make comments regarding the candidate.
The congregation will then proceed with a vote to call the candidate as our next Senior Minister.
Exciting times lie ahead for First Congo! Stay tuned for an announcement regarding a formal reception at which we can all welcome our next Senior Pastor.
One last point: because our candidate has not announced their intention to resign their current call, we must still maintain the candidate’s anonymity. This anonymity will continue most likely until formal presentation to our congregation. While challenging, congregational leadership feels this is required to ensure the candidate can manage messaging to their current church and congregation about their intent to accept our call.
We sincerely thank you for the trust and faith you’ve placed in us. We are excited to complete this phase of our ministry and look forward to what lies ahead. While we will certainly miss our beloved Pastor Rich Kirchherr when the time comes for his retirement, we are thrilled about the prospect of welcoming this new candidate to join our church family as its next Senior Pastor.
Our Church’s future is bright indeed!
Blessings,
First Congregational Church Senior Minister Search Committee
