Dear Bonhomme Family,

Your Pastor Nominating Committee was commissioned to search for a new Lead Pastor and Head of Staff in October 2021. Throughout the past nine months, we have carried the weight and importance of the task with us and have worked together to discern who God would bring to us, both for who and where we are as Bonhomme Presbyterian Church today and in looking to our future together. At all times during this journey, we have felt the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of our brothers and sisters who so faithfully and tirelessly have also been on their knees fervently praying for us, the process, and the person God would bring to us. We come before you incredibly humbled and exceedingly grateful.

It is with hearts filled with profound gratitude and joy that your Pastor Nominating Committee unanimously places before you Reverend Doctor James H. Shultz as our candidate for Lead Pastor and Head of Staff for Bonhomme Presbyterian Church.
Pastor Jim has over 20 years of ministry experience in many facets of church leadership. He is ordained and has a Master of Divinity (MDiv), a Doctor of Ministry (DMin), and leadership certifications. He is the co-author of the book “The Practical Art of Spiritual Conversation” (Wipf & Stock), written to help equip people to have winsome, meaningful evangelistic conversations in everyday life. Pastor Jim has been a college-level instructor in areas including theology, apologetics, philosophy, culture, and spiritual formation. He is currently a senior executive leader at a healthcare ministry for the poor and underserved in Memphis, Tennessee, which serves over 60,000 unique patients (185,000 visits) annually with a budget of over $40 million and 500 staff.  

Pastor Jim is a preacher, teacher, and leader and has the heart of a pastor who is ready to return to church ministry. He views leadership as a position of service, and because of that, he is excited to have the opportunity to work in the midst of grace-filled people, loving on our staff and congregation here at Bonhomme. In Pastor Jim’s words about Bonhomme, when receiving the Call, he said, “I’m excited about ‘our’ past, it’s intriguing to me, and I want to steward that history and help shape the history yet to come.” 
Pastor Jim and his wife, Dr. Laura Shultz, live in Memphis and are originally from St. Louis. They have three boys, Samuel, who is 8; Jeremiah, age 6; and their youngest, Isaiah, age 4. Laura is a Licensed Psychologist and Neuropsychologist, board-certified health psychologist (ABBP), and currently serves as the Senior Director of Behavior Health - Ambulatory Care at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare in Memphis. She will continue in this position after their move to St. Louis. They are excited to be in a church that will love their family and help them raise their children in a God-honoring, Jesus-loving community of believers.

Your Pastor Nominating Committee, with great conviction, believes Pastor Jim’s educational background, pastoral and leadership responsibilities, and experience, combined with having successfully met the requirements of the Position Description, qualify Pastor Jim for what we have often heard is an additional important qualification, and that is his ‘goodness of fit’. We have had multiple opportunities to engage with him witnessing his demeanor, creativity, transparency, humor, humility, and his genuine love for the Church and how the Church is to serve the lost…and the found. As a committee, we have already been on the receiving end of his pastor’s heart. For all these reasons and so many more, we have every confidence he will serve Bonhomme Presbyterian Church with integrity and passion. We are incredibly excited to welcome Pastor Jim and his family to our Bonhomme family!

A congregational meeting has been called for July 31, 2022, to approve the Call of Reverend Doctor James H. Shultz to fill the role of the Lead Pastor and Head of Staff of Bonhomme Presbyterian Church. Pastor Jim and Laura will be joining us in worship, and he will be preaching in both services. Covenant partners will be voting in the Congregational Meeting immediately following the 9:00 a.m. Traditional Worship service. After voting, the meeting will suspend and then continue following the 10:30 a.m. Modern Worship service. This will allow you the opportunity to attend and vote at the Congregational Meeting following the service you normally attend.

Please mark your calendar to attend worship on Sunday, July 31, 2022, and stay for this very exciting and important meeting in the life of our church!

With thanksgiving for God’s faithfulness,

Bonhomme Presbyterian Church
Pastor Nominating Committee
Andy Seers, Don Guenther, Marcia Walter, Michelle Harrell, 
Nancy Kopsky, Ross Jenkins, Susie Jensen