March 27, 2022 Season of Lent
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Pine Valley Christian Church in transition.
We are making inquiries to establish a 5-person search committee which will secure an interim minister for Pine Valley Christian Church. The PVCC constitution sets guidelines for pastoral search. The Mission Council will have final approval of members on the search committee. When the search committee is complete, the Disciples Kansas Regional Minister, Rev. Dr. Larry Ross, will meet with the committee to jump start our search for an interim minister.
Three Phases of the Search and Call Process, from an Interim Ministry to a Permanent Ministry
Phase 1 — Community in Reflection
Who we have been makes us who we are.
Appoint a search team for the interim selection (this may or may not be the search team for your called pastor).
Meet with the Area or Regional Minister to discuss interim options and review the process.
Extend a call to the Interim Minister.
Say “Good-bye” to the current minister.
Phase 1 mentions securing an interim minister prior to saying good-bye to the current minister. This order might switch for Pine Valley Christian Church.
Phase 2 — Community in Transition
Who we are now and who we are becoming.
The Interim Minister leads the congregation through the process of discernment by implementing
Goals/Development Tasks for the Interim Period
— Grief resolution
— Identity formation
— Movement toward transition from where we have been to where we are now
Congregation reflects on how its history has formed them and how the present will form the future.
Phase 3 — Community in Co-Mission
Who God is calling us to be and who God is calling to lead us.
The congregation is able to name:
— Who we’ve been and how that history has shaped the present
— Who we are and how the present will shape the future
— Who we are called to be and who God is calling us to lead us
Deliver the Congregational Profile to the Area or Regional Minister.
Receive Ministerial Profiles from the Area or Regional Minister. Process of discernment of profiles by the Search Team.
Extend a call (usually 2-5 months after receiving Ministerial Profiles).
Welcome and installation of the new minister in conjunction with the Area or Regional Minister.
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You’re invited to join the 9am Sunday morning adult class.
The adult Sunday morning class had 16 this past Sunday. All are welcome to join us, even if you don’t have the book, “If God Is Love, Don’t Be A Jerk” by John Pavlovitz.
Next week, Palm Sunday, will be the last day for this class. David and Sally Hansen are leading.
This week note for yourself what new thing you’ve learned from this book. Also, think about now this book applies to Pine Valley Christian Church.
Among the discussion questions listed at the end of the book is this one for Chapter 12, “How do you balance the merits of staying in a faith community and changing it from within with the benefits of leaving it to live more authentically?”
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From the PVCC newsletter archives, this week in 1972: from the Ecumenical Institute: One of the great struggles of our time is discovering what it means to be a family (that includes a family of one) when old images of family life are being rejected or found inadequate by countless people… A seminar… [will] examine…family structures including inter-relationships, the roles of the sexes, and the new image of the family as “mission”.
— Melanie Naden, PVCC Moderator