June 21, 2019
Dear Trinity Members,

On June 17, our Session met with the Personnel Committee and began to outline next steps for Trinity in this time of pastoral transition. As a reminder, Pam will be on study leave and vacation from June 23 to July 25. She will return on July 28, with her last day in the pulpit on August 4, followed by a celebration of her ministry. In the meantime, we have begun planning the transition process. We want to share with you where we are at this point as well as steps moving forward.

The steps outlined below which lead to a Senior Pastor search and selection are defined by our Book of Order, the PC(USA) and the Greater Atlanta Presbytery. While these steps may seem cumbersome to some, this process has been defined and refined over many years based on the experiences of thousands of churches and the collective wisdom of longstanding church leadership. The steps are as follows:

Step 1 – Interim Pastor Search
  • This step is the responsibility of the Session as this is a temporary, contract position.
  • The Session creates an Interim Pastor Hiring Committee. This work has begun at Trinity, and a committee should be named in the next 3-4 weeks.
  • The Interim Pastor search is conducted by the Interim Pastor Hiring Committee. When their search is complete, the committee presents the Interim Pastor candidate to the Session.
  • The Session votes to approve the hiring of the nominated Interim Pastor.

Step 2 – The Interim Pastor Role
The Interim serves a very important role. In addition to ensuring the church continues to operate smoothly, the Interim is responsible for leading the church and congregation through a process of reviewing and coming to terms with its history, identifying and naming unresolved and potential sources of conflict in the congregation, and preparing the church for new leadership.

The Interim period typically lasts anywhere from 6 to 18 months.

Step 3 – Senior Pastor Search
  • Calling a Senior Pastor is the responsibility of the congregation.
  • The congregation elects a Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC). This occurs after the Interim Pastor is in place.
  • The PNC searches for and selects a Senior Pastor candidate for presentation to the congregation.
  • The congregation elects and welcomes a new Senior Pastor.
  • The search for a Senior Pastor will take time. As we noted in last Friday’s letter to the congregation, we are blessed with a beloved and cohesive group of clergy in Richard, Andrew, Tom, Betsy, and George, who will work with Norman, Molly, and the rest of our wonderful staff to ensure that Trinity continues to meet its mission to Make God’s Love Visible during this transition. These talented people will now have increased workloads, and we should be sensitive to the pressure these additional responsibilities may create.

Some members have suggested that we could expedite our search by bypassing the process above, which is outlined by our polity, and moving ahead to the Senior Pastor search without a purposeful interim period. It is tempting to accelerate our efforts in this way.

However, we believe that doing so would not get us where we need to be when we call a new Senior Pastor. We need to allow time for much-needed reflection and reconciliation born of a well-managed interim period. Trinity has a great opportunity to construct fresh foundations for our future. While we recognize the need for expediency, we feel strongly that taking the appropriate time to prepare our church for its next leader will be time well spent.

Perhaps most important to our success will be living into our calling to be a covenant community. As members, you can help by being a steadying influence. We must work together to understand the differing perspectives regarding the circumstances that have led us here, and different opinions about the right path forward. We need to get on with building the church — and you can help make that happen.

Onward!
Alex Erwin                               
Clerk of Session
alex.erwin@comcast.net          
(404) 694-1542
Frank Fuerst
Chair, Personnel Committee
(404) 271-4791
Brian Williams                                
Assistant Clerk of Session
(404) 772-2800
Cindy Ferguson
Chair Elect, Personnel Committee
(404) 216-0853