A Candidate Has Been Recommended
Dear St. Matthew Members,
With prayerful thanks, I report to you that:
- Bishop Bartholomew recommended a candidate for consideration as pastor at St. Matthew.
- Our Call Committee, Faith Steinfort, Jen Blanford, Max Frable, Barry Grahn, Charlie Lange, and Melissa Lestini, researched and interviewed this candidate, attended (virtually) a worship service led by the candidate, contacted references, and unanimously recommended the candidate to Council.
- Council met with this candidate this past Saturday, some of us through Zoom, and some, at a safe distance, in the sanctuary of St. Matthew. Council voted unanimously to recommend this candidate to our congregation as our next pastor.
The candidate’s adult life has been spent in the Lord’s service, leading up to seminary and ordination in the ELCA. Since then, ministry has included missionary work, 6 years as co-pastor of a congregation and 8 years as a Professor of Theology at a Lutheran seminary.
After our in-person meeting, Council members described this candidate as humble, articulate, an intellectual, a careful listener, and a deeply caring individual. During the interview, teaching and preaching came across as two things that “fired-up” our candidate. Sermons are based on bible texts addressing the current environment of the world today.
The next step is to introduce the candidate to our congregation. There will be a worship service led by the candidate, followed by a Congregation Meeting. Our members will then vote on whether to call this candidate as our pastor. It is customary that the candidate’s name and personal information remains confidential until that Congregation Meeting.
Before then, the chief question is … when? The restrictions on in-person meetings, which are themselves changing, mean that not everyone will be able to attend in-person. Many may prefer to attend by virtual means. Council will work on selecting both a date, in the reasonably near future, and a means by which our members can meaningfully participate.
Many, many thanks to our Call Committee for their work in moving forward the process of calling our next pastor. They have worked diligently and have been very specific on their enthusiasm for this candidate.
Stay tuned…Council will provide more information as we have it, and are able.
Yours in Christ,
John O’Meara, president