JANUARY 20, 2024

Dear First Congregational Church,

In 2022, our congregation undertook a visioning and strategic planning process to discern direction for our future ministry. That plan, Faith in Action, lifts up four priorities to guide our current and future ministry – social justice, faith formation, congregational care, and communications. Now, with a clearer vision of our ministry currently and for the years ahead, we are ready to consider calling a settled Associate Minister. In addition to providing general pastoral leadership, this position will carry staff responsibilities for congregational care, community life, and our social justice initiatives.

The Constitution of our congregation states that when there is a pastoral opening the congregation consider available candidates. Our Church Council proposes that we first consider the excellent and most available candidate in our midst before deciding whether to conduct a wider search. Church Council recommends that we consider calling Rev. Linda Kowatch as our settled Associate Minister.

In 2019, Linda Kowatch joined us as a part-time intern as part of her seminary training at Lexington Theological Seminary. She was formed for pastoral ministry in our midst. In 2022, we invited Linda to serve as Associate Minister. Because she joined us in this capacity while we were in the midst of discerning a strategic plan, as well as emerging from the pandemic, it seemed wise to offer her a temporary or interim position, while we waited for further clarity.

Since the beginning of her ministry with us, Linda has served our congregation with enormous care, spiritually mature leadership, deep faithfulness, and great love. Her warmth and good humor feel like expressions of God’s own grace. Our ministries of congregational care, visitation, community life, and small groups are flourishing with her pastoral presence and stellar administrative attention. “Organizing the love” is the way she has spoken of this work. With her pastoral support and excellent group facilitation skills, Men’s Breakfast, the Women’s Spirituality Group, and the Ministry of Last Things are thriving. Our social justice ministries of climate action and gun violence prevention have found greater definition and organization. While Chris was on sabbatical during the summer of 2022, Linda coordinated and covered all pastoral responsibilities with great competence, and during this more recent time of transition, she has ably supervised our youth program and led confirmation. She is flexible, reliable, unflappable, and always on the lookout to find ways to support the life of our community and the growing edges of our ministries. We have been inspired by her preaching, comforted by her pastoral presence, guided by her insightful leadership, and found our own faith nurtured and strengthened. She has been more than we could have hoped for or imagined in a new pastor. She brings the grace and love of God into every situation.

In preparation for the next steps in calling a settled Associate Minister, the Church Council recommends that a search committee interview Linda and discern if she is the right candidate for us. Therefore, Church Council is calling a Congregational Meeting immediately following 10:30 am worship on Sunday, January 28, to vote to charge the following the people, assembled by the Personnel Committee, to serve as a Ministerial Selection Committee.

Rhonda Fadum, Chair, Kristen Aldretti, Kea Giles, Don Mayer, Laura Riihimaki, Monika Rutkowski, Brad Sissom, Bill Young, Rev. Chris Braudaway-Bauman

Rev. Erin Gilmore, Acting Conference Minister of the Rocky Mountain Conference, United Church of Christ, has reviewed and approved our process.

As we consider the future of our ministry, we encourage you to plan to be present for worship and our Congregational Meeting on January 28 at 11:45 am. Childcare and children’s activities will be available during the meeting.

Faithfully,

Rev. Christina Braudaway-Bauman and Carol Hasselbacher

Senior Minister and Moderator