On Sunday, we elected a Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC), and in so doing, we took the first step in the search for our next pastor!

We are grateful to the following individuals, who said yes to serving on the PNC:

Liz Adams

Jeanne Bishop

Lloyd Culbertson

Beth Davis

Heather Gallenbeck

Kerry Grady

Elizabeth Hurley

Jared Light

Kash Morgan

Michael Mirza

Kent Stevens

Gretchen Wahl

Jessica Wang

You can read more about them here.

To all of you who recommended individuals to serve on the PNC, including those who volunteered themselves, thank you! We had a robust response to our congregational request for names and appreciate that so many were willing to be considered for this role.

We are also grateful to the 2023–2024 Nominating Committee: Dennis Canfield, Rhonda Faulkner, Joe Fong, Elizabeth Foster, Jenny Giblin (Chair), Laura Lee Larson, Jerry Latherow, Maggie McGuire, Larry Nicholson, Emma Richardson, and Ken Walker.

They are the ones who spent countless hours reviewing all the recommendations and confidentially deliberating to prepare the slate presented for congregational vote this past Sunday.

In doing that, they prayerfully discerned how to best match the needs of the PNC with the individuals recommended. They committed themselves to putting forth a group of nominees that represent the diversity and inclusivity of our congregation and have a breadth of experiences at Fourth Church, so that the PNC might, as a committee, dutifully represent different groups within our community.

We are deeply thankful for that commitment and work!

The first step for the PNC will be to determine their process and then put together a Ministry Information Form (MIF), which serves as a job description and is used to post our pastoral opening.

After the committee has had time to convene themselves and begin this work, you can look forward to hearing from them throughout the search process.

Top of mind for most of us is the question “How long will the search take?”

While we would all prefer a tidy and certain answer, the reality is that the length of time for a pastoral call process can vary widely. For a church like Fourth Church, it is likely to take approximately a year.

Although the last PNC process took closer to two years, we have reason to believe this search will be more expedient. Critical accelerants to the process are both (1) the advances in technology that now facilitate virtual meetings and the ability to worship and listen to sermons online, as well as (2) the work of the Long-Range Planning Task Force, which provides clarity around Fourth Church’s vision and strategy for our next horizon, information that is critical for conversations with pastoral candidates.

That said, the process remains inherently uncertain, as we do not know what the pastor candidate pool will look like, and the PNC will only conclude its work when it finds the right candidate to recommend to the Fourth Church congregation.

The PNC process will likely include gathering input that the congregation has for the committee’s search. Watch for more information as the committee begins their work by determining what their process will be.

In the meantime, as we embark on this season of search and discernment, please hold the Pastor Nominating Committee in prayer.

Pray for them, their work, and also this congregation, as together we continue to do the work that is ours to do and look toward the day when we will invite our next pastor to partner in it with us.