January 22, 2025

Dear Northwest Ministry Network,

In my most recent letter to you, I announced that Drs. Don and Jodi Detrick would be transitioning out of serving as the Secretary-Treasurer for the Northwest Ministry Network, a role they have faithfully served in for the last twenty-one years. Many of you have expressed your appreciation for Don and Jodi and prayed for them. Thank you for your response. At that time, I promised a letter to you, following a planning meeting with our NWMN Search Team. This second letter would explain the process, giving every minister and church in our network the opportunity to nominate a successor, provided the bylaw qualifications are met.

Everything in this letter can also be found on the Network website by clicking here. There you will see the job description for the Secretary-Treasurer from our NWMN Bylaws, our Organizational Manual and our Operational Manual. The Bylaws call for the Search Team to be comprised of our NWMN Executive Presbytery. At our meeting on Tuesday, January 14, our discussion centered on the process and a few questions that I thought might be helpful to address at this point.

Q. Is the current job description for the Secretary-Treasurer fixed and permanent, or is there flexibility? 

A. There is flexibility based on gifting, passion and experience, and those roles can be shifted at the discretion of the NWMN Network Leader. Clearly the time for any such discussion of responsibility adjustment would come following an election and a mutually agreed upon change. 

Q. Does the role of Secretary-Treasurer require a full-time commitment, or could someone also serve at their local church and be the NWMN Assistant Superintendent?

A. The Executive Presbytery has affirmed that the Associate Network Leader roles are to be full time positions, as stated in the NWMN Operational Manual. Thus, anyone willing to be nominated must be willing to make the commitment to serve in this role fulltime.

COMMUNICATION

All communication during the search process for the NWMN Secretary-Treasurer will be done electronically. This includes all nomination procedures, and all communication with the Search Team members, candidates and with the NWMN. There will be no printed communication.

PROCESS OVERVIEW

Phase 1: The Executive Presbytery meets and is appointed to serve as the NWMN Search Team. This team is led by the NWMN Network Leader. Nominating and election process is reviewed and key dates are established. This was completed January 14, 2025.

Phase 2: The Search Team opens the nominating process, establishes a website for communication and established dates by which nominations can be received. Receiving names in the nomination process is limited to one nominee per minister or church. All nominations will be received electronically through the website for a ten-day period, between January 22 and 31. 

Phase 3: Once the period of receiving names is completed, the list of names will be reviewed by the NWMN Search Team. At that point, any individual serving on the Search Team who has been nominated and wishes to allow their name to stand will be excused from further duty. If the number on the NWMN Search Team falls below seven members, other Search Team members will be appointed from the Network Presbytery. 

Phase 4: The Search Team will respond to every individual nominated to confirm they indeed want to be considered or removed from the list. The Search Team will use questionnaires and interviews as a process for determining who should be presented to the Network Presbytery for further interviews. The Network Presbytery is allowed to consider candidates beyond those presented by the NWMN Search Team.

Phase 5: The Network Presbytery is charged with the duty of presenting to the NWMN in session, “one or more candidates”. The candidate or candidates will appear on the ballot, along with a line for a write in candidate. (Article VI. Section 10, NWMN Bylaws). All materials for each candidate will be presented to the NWMN ten-days prior to balloting.

NOMINATING PROCESS

To nominate a candidate, we first encourage you to ask that minister if they are willing to serve, based on the criteria presented above and on the website. This will greatly aid the Search Team in this process. Once the minister you would like to nominate agrees to serve, Click here to go to the website and select nominations. Complete that nomination form and click “submit”.

PERSONAL NOTE

All of us trust the Lord with this decision. We are casting votes, much like lots were cast in the Bible, and each of us are praying, seeking and trusting that Jesus’ fingerprints will be on the person selected to serve. Jesus has always proven Himself trustworthy and this situation will be no different, and I do trust Him.

For me, this is a time to, again deeply trust the Lord. The selection of a new Secretary-Treasurer for our network is very similar to what I told our children when they began to date. I stated, “I am committing myself now, to love the person you choose to spend the rest of your life with in marriage.” This was their choice. And again, I am now committing myself to love and work with the person you choose to serve our Network. This process is similar to asking your congregation to select your most trusted staff member. We must all trust Jesus with this decision.

And I do trust the Lord and I do trust this network. Proverbs 16:33 says, “The lot is cast… but every decision is from the Lord” and I believe that God can use any process to accomplish His will. Just like you, I am praying for our next Secretary-Treasurer, whoever they may be. I so appreciate your diligence in this matter. Thank you for praying and for serving so faithfully all over the region, as we work together to bring the hope of Jesus to the communities we serve.

Sincerely, 

Dr. Donald E. Ross

Network Leader