Greetings from the Search Committee
Candidates
April was a busy month for the search committee. At the end of March, our job announcement was posted to the UCC website. Since then we have had 20 candidates apply for the position. We have had people apply from all corners of the country, all ages, genders and a wide variety of backgrounds.
The committee has diligently reviewed all of their resumes. Most of the resumes ranged from 20-40 pages. During this process, we discussed with each other which ones we felt would be a good fit for our church. To the ones we felt were a good fit, we released our local church profile, which is a detailed summary of the Church of Peace. We also asked for sermon materials from the candidates.
We narrowed the 20 down to 7, but we still continue to receive resumes and review those as well. The committee has reviewed most of the seven candidates’ sermon material, and we are close to picking 4-5 to do initial interviews in mid-May.
Prepping for the Interview
The church search committee understands that potential pastors are interviewing us as well. The relationship between a pastor and a church must be a win-win situation. We were fortunate to have Pastor Eric Fistler (Meghan Cooley’s brother) come speak to the committee.
Pastor Fistler shared with us his experience being called to a church. The main thing he emphasized was that there must be a good fit, and not to settle. He told us to make sure that the pastor and the church feel comfortable with each other. In addition, Eric helped us refine our interview questions and gave us pointers for the interview process.
Way Ahead
The search committee has laid out a fairly aggressive timeline for the search process. The goal is to have our new pastor in place by Rally Sunday, which is September 2nd. That being said, we will not rush this process. If we interview the candidates and the committee doesn’t feel comfortable with anyone, we will continue to wait and receive more resumes.
As far as the interim pastor is concerned, the church council is responsible for the selection of an interim pastor. The council has decided they want a pastor who will work with us fulltime and not just provide pulpit services (Sunday Service, weddings, funerals, visiting the sick, etc.). The council will select the interim pastor so the search committee can focus on the long-term goal.
The committee thanks you for your support and patience as we continue this process. As always, if you have any questions please feel free to ask any member of the committee. We will try to address any concerns you have to the best of our ability.
