Please use this LINK to connect to an easy to use online Nomination Form to recommend fellow church members, &/or yourself, to serve on the forming Minister Search Committee.
Greetings from the Board of Trustees of the First Congregational Church:
As a congregation, we are ready to select a Search Committee to seek, and recommend to our church, a candidate for the position of Minister.
Our Church Bylaws state that it is the responsibility of the Board of Trustees to fill this position. Members of this church will play an important role throughout the search process, beginning with helping us identify potential members to serve on the Minister Search Committee. We are asking you to prayerfully consider this request and to nominate a church member(s) who you believe should be considered for this significant, important and enriching opportunity. Please note that that it is perfectly appropriate to nominate yourself to serve in this capacity.
To help you identify individuals who could effectively and collaboratively contribute to this significant task, our Trustees met recently and created the following list to articulate the expectations and needed attributes of all members of the Minister Search Committee and some specific skills that the committee will need to do their work.
It will be important to:
• Create a committee that is working in service to, and through, the spirit of God on behalf of our community;
• Create a committee that can represent, and is representative of, the entire congregation;
• Create a committee that has knowledge of the history, traditions and evolving vision of our church;
• Include members who can fulfill the significant time expectations of this service, both in and outside of meetings, that could last a year or more;
• Include members who are open minded and able to listen with patience and understanding to others;
• Include members who are able to work towards consensus;
• Include members who will maintain confidentiality;
• Include members who are willing and able to respectfully express a dissenting view;
• Include members who are able to discern a candidate’s strengths, weaknesses and theologies;
• Include members who have the ability to recognize that the Spirit may speak through someone with whom they disagree;
• Include some members with good writing skills to communicate on behalf of, and document the work of, the Search Committee and;
• Include members with a range of leadership skills and experiences.
It is the intention of the Board of Trustees to announce the make-up of the Minister Search Committee on September 10th. For that to be possible, we are asking that all nominations be submitted by, or on, Friday, August 18.
We ask that you describe the reasons why you are nominating yourself and/or the person(s) that you are nominating, and in what ways you, or they, meet the expectations outlined above.
Please return your nomination(s) to the Church Office by filling in and submitting the simple electronic form linked above, or by using the paper form available from the Church Office, with comments about your nominee(s). It is not necessary to have a person’s permission to nominate them.
As we hope to receive many nominations from which to select a diverse, yet cohesive group, please note that not all nominations will result in selection.
The Board of Trustees appreciates and values your contributions, ideas and opinions.
Peace be with you,
Steve
Steve Hyde, Church President
On behalf of the Trustees: Amy Mellencamp, President-Elect; Tara Gauding, Past-President; Bob Wolf, Treasurer; Linda Elrick, Clerk; and Trustees at Large: Janice Claypoole, Susan DeClue, Mandy Grace, Simon Jorgensen, Mike Knauer, Margaret Spivack, Doug Viehmann, Facilities/Buildings and Grounds; and James LaPierre, Deacons.