During the interim between Pastor Larry’s retirement and the eventual call to a new pastor, a Transition Team was appointed by Council to identify the vision, the needs, and the desires of our church family for the future of OLSC, information which will be used to call a pastor best suited to the kind of church we are and want to be. Team members asked to serve are:
-Pastor Dick Christensen -Randy Baseler (Chair Person) -Marilyn Carlson (Secretary) -Lori Downey -Barbara (Carole) Extract -Mark Mummy -Vince Smith
Hard at work daily, and meeting weekly, the team’s ultimate goal is to prepare a Ministry Site Profile (MSP) for the synod which provides detailed information about:
- The demographics of our church family and the demographics of the geographical area surrounding our church,
- Our vision for OSLC now and in the future,
- Our priorities regarding ministry(ies), and the qualities and abilities we seek in our future pastor, etc.
In order to complete the MSP, a great deal of information has been collected from records, histories and – most importantly – from the members of OSLC.
We have divided our tasks into 4 categories under each of which is a long list of tactics and tasks:
- Getting organized (defining the procedures, timelines, tactics and tasks),
- Keeping the congregation informed (developing and implementing a communication plan),
- Facilitating the involvement of all congregants, and
- Completing and submitting an effective MSP to the Bishop and OSLC call committee.
Congregants have been encouraged to express their views to the team via e-mail, in-person conversations, and through surveys. The first survey, completed in early May, helped identify how parishioners see OSLC as it is today and how they wish it to be in the future.
Survey #2: We are now developing the second survey, starting with an open-ended session on May 8. Prior to this, we’ve been discussing leadership qualities to seek in a new pastor, whether or not to address various staffing options in the next survey (based on the input re: priorities from the first survey) and options for worship service scheduling (One service or two)?
The Bulletin Board serves as a continual updating of the Transition Team progress via posting of Re-ports to Council, Weekly Meeting Summaries, etc., in addition to the Comments Box, electronic pho-tos, and church history documents.
After the MSP is completed and submitted to the Bishop’s office, the Bishop will sort through the resumes of potential candidates who best fit the expressed needs and vision of OSLC parishioners and send them to the Call Committee. (Please note: members of the Transition Team will not be members of the Call Committee.)
The Call Committee will then review them, interview candidates and, ultimately, make a selec-tion.
-The Transition Team
