We wanted to take a minute for just a brief reminder from the Call Committee. As we reported last weekend, we have completed the last phase of our work, and we are ready to deliver our report to the congregation. We will do this at a Congregational Assembly this afternoon at 12:15 pm, immediately following the 11:00 am service. During this Congregational Assembly, the Call Committee will report on each of the three parts of our charter, which has been to:

• Determine the congregation’s specific needs

• Identify and evaluate senior pastor candidates

• Make recommendations to the Congregational Assembly

We will be presenting two candidates. Pastor Mark Hannemann, currently the Executive Director of Wingate Christian Counseling, an affiliate ministry of St. John Lutheran Church in Ellisville, Missouri, and Pastor Allan Buss, currently the senior pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Belvidere, IL, where he has served since 2000.

As a Call Committee, we are unanimous in our belief that either of these candidates would make an excellent senior pastor for Divine Shepherd, and we will review these candidates with the congregation this afternoon, including biographical information, ministry strengths, and areas of distinction between the two. We will talk about how each would meet the needs of our senior pastor role and how each would lead us forward in mission.

We will then open the floor for questions and discussion. From there, we will see where the Holy Spirit is leading us – whether we feel ready to vote, or if we need more information or further time for prayer and deliberation and discussion. If the former, we would move to a vote. If the latter, we would recess (instead of adjourn) the Assembly and reconvene the following Sunday. In any case, our next steps, including moving forward with a Call, is the decision of the congregation, and we trust that God is leading, that He is in control, and that He is blessing our work.

Every member of the congregation is invited and encouraged to attend. We hope to see you this afternoon.

On March 10^th and March 27^th, we spent a full day with each of our two final candidates. Each of these candidates had a chance to visit us here at Divine Shepherd. Over the course of a full day and evening, each had a chance to meet with the staff (both individually and collectively), with the Board of Directors, with the Board of Elders, and with the Call Committee. We had the chance to ask lots of questions, answer questions, talk about our ministries, and be led in Bible Study by each candidate. Both days were indeed blessed by the Holy Spirit.

As a Call Committee, we are unanimous in our belief that either of these candidates would make an excellent senior pastor for Divine Shepherd, and we will present these candidates to the congregation next Sunday, April 6^th, at a Congregational Assembly. This Assembly is scheduled for 12:15 pm, immediately following the 11:00 am worship service. Every member of the congregation is invited and encouraged to attend.

During this Assembly, we will ask the Holy Spirit’s blessing on our deliberations. We will briefly review the last few months of work and the process by which we arrived at these two final candidates. We will then present each candidate, including biographical information, ministry strengths, and areas of distinction between the two. We will talk about how each would meet the needs of our senior pastor role and how each would lead us forward in mission.

We will then open the floor for questions and discussion. From there, we will see where the Holy Spirit is leading us – whether we feel ready to vote, or if we need more information or further time for prayer and deliberation and discussion. If the former, we would move to a vote. If the latter, we would recess (instead of adjourn) the Assembly and reconvene the following Sunday. In any case, our next steps, including moving forward with a Call, is the decision of the congregation, and we trust that God is leading, that He is in control, and that He is blessing our work.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact members of the Call Committee by telephone or email. Thank you again for your on-going prayers and support for God’s work here at Divine Shepherd. He is risen!

-Senior Pastor Call Committee

Greetings from the Call Committee:

We would again like to take a few minutes to update you on the progress being made regarding our senior pastor vacancy here at Divine Shepherd.  During our last update on Feb 16th and 17th, we noted that we had just completed six telephone interviews and that we had narrowed that group down to four candidates who we would invite to visit Divine Shepherd and meet personally with the Staff, the Boards of Directors and Elders, and the Call Committee. 

Those invitations have been extended.  One has been accepted and will visit March 10^th.  Two are under prayerful consideration, as each look at his calendar and commitments during this time of Lent and with Holy Week approaching.  One, after prayerful deliberation, has declined to visit, believing God’s work for him is not yet finished at his current congregation.

With the unique commitments of Lent and Easter, we realize we will have to be flexible with each candidate in scheduling these visits, so we have set of date of April 4^th, which is two weeks after Easter, to have these visits complete.  Should the other two candidates be unable to visit even during this timeframe, we would then schedule several follow-up phone interviews and conversations with our staff, Boards, and the Call Committee.  Once we have finished these visits and conversations, we would anticipate being ready to bring together a congregational assembly to vote on a call.

We remain steadfast in our overall objective to be deliberate, thorough, and inclusive as we seek to discern God’s will for us.

If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact members of the call committee by telephone or email.  We will also be available after services if you would like to speak with us personally.  Minutes of our meeting minutes continue to be posted on the church’s website www.divineshepherd.org. along with answers to the most frequently asked questions.

Thank you for your time and your on-going prayers for the call committee.

Greetings from the Call Committee:

We would like to take a few minutes to update you on the progress being made regarding our senior pastor vacancy here at Divine Shepherd.  During our last update on Feb 2^nd and 3rd, we noted that we had reviewed 35 names provided to us by the District President.  We had narrowed that list down to seven candidates who would be interviewed by telephone.   Of those seven, six individuals agreed to participate while the seventh opted to be removed from consideration.

Those telephone interviews took place over the last ten days and were completed on Tuesday evening, well within our stated goal of Feb 16^th.  Following prayerful consideration, the committee has narrowed that list to four candidates who will be personally interviewed by Staff, the Board of Directors and the Board of Elders and undergo a more extensive questioning by the Call Committee.  This interview process will be part of our on-going discernment of God’s will for us as a congregation and will assist us as we move towards officially presenting candidates in a congregational assembly and the important step of voting to select one individual to whom we will issue a Divine Call.

Again, as we noted on Feb 2^nd and 3^rd, we have not identified a date for this congregational assembly but our goal continues to be that we will be ready to move forward by the latter half of March.  We remain steadfast in our overall objective to be deliberate, thorough, and inclusive as we seek to discern God’s will for us.

If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact members of the call committee by telephone or email.  We will also be available after services if you would like to speak with us personally.  Minutes of our meeting minutes continue to be posted on the church’s website www.divineshepherd.org. along with answers to the most frequently asked questions.

We thank you for your time and your on-going prayers for the call committee.

The call committee wanted to take this opportunity to provide an update as to where we are with the senior pastor call process. As you know, the call committee first met in late October. Over the past three months, we have essentially completed two phases of work and are about to begin our third phase. In all of our effort, we have used God’s Word and prayer - for wisdom, guidance, strength, and discernment. Each time we meet, we work through a Bible Study based on what God’s Word has to say about the pastoral office and its role in Christ’s church.

Our first phase was one of preparation, and included several important activities, including finalizing the Senior Pastor Ministry Description and the Qualifying Gifts we are looking for in our next Senior Pastor. We prepared several other documents that will be important to review with our final candidates, including our short-term and long-term objectives and priorities for Divine Shepherd and a brief history of our congregation. All of this work was done with the support and input of the staff, Board of Directors, Board of Elders, and the various focus groups and teams that were part of the Transition Task Force this past year. All of these documents are available for your review on our church’s website.

The other main part of Phase I was soliciting nominations from the congregation and from our District President. As part of this, we also worked with the Executive Director of PLI (Dr. Stephen Wagner) for recommendations. We held nominations open until December 9th.

Our second phase, which we just completed, primarily involved reviewing the nominated and recommended candidates. A total of 35 pastors were nominated and/or presented to us by our District President. We received 24 names before Christmas and we received the other 11 in mid-January. Our review of these candidates has included their biographical and pastoral history, performance reviews by their District President, and their pastoral self-assessments (which address many aspects of ministry and leadership). We visited their church’s websites, listened to sermons that were available online, reviewed their congregation’s mission, vision, and passion for seeking the lost.

Out of the 35 candidates reviewed thus far, we have identified 7 that we are initially going to reach out to. This will happen in the next couple of days. If the pastor is open to considering a call, we will be setting up a phone interview with them as next step. Our goal is to complete this work by February 16th. Based on these interviews, we may schedule follow-on interviews or visits to their church. Our goal with this next phase is to identify 2 to 3 candidates to invite to Divine Shepherd to meet us – and for us to meet them. Once we have had those visits, and an opportunity for everyone to review all of the information on these 2 to 3 candidates, we will officially present them to the congregation in a congregational assembly for a vote to select one to issue a Divine Call.

Many of us have been asked when that Congregational Assembly will be. At this point, picking any date is premature. Given what is yet to be accomplished, our goal is to ready by the latter half of March, but our overall objective is to be deliberate, thorough, and inclusive as we seek to discern God’s will for us. In the meantime, our staff is doing a great job in continuing to lead all of the ministries being carried out here, and our Elders are ensuring that our worship and spiritual care is taken care of during this time.

Please continue to visit the call committee section of the church’s website at www.divineshepherd.org. We continue to update this site with new information almost weekly. If you don’t have access to the website, you can stop by the church office and someone can print off the materials. Thank you for your prayers and for your input. If at any time you have questions, please contact one of the committee members or send an e-mail through the church’s website. Thank you.