The PNC has received and reviewed over 70 pastor information forms; some were self-referrals, but most were received through the Church Leadership Connection. Six of the applicants live in California … the rest from across the USA. We narrowed our focus to eight applicants who we felt matched our criteria of strong preaching skills and Head of Staff experience.
Eight were invited to interview
Two withdrew their application
One accepted a position elsewhere
One we did not hear back from
Four participated in Zoom interviews with the full committee
After debriefing the Zoom interviews, committee members felt two of the candidates did not seem to be a good match for our congregation.
The final two candidates were invited for personal interviews, they did well in our formal interview, we have met with them and their spouse spending some time together socially, when possible, we have visited their church, they have preached locally and toured our campus.
Currently, we are in discernment about which of these candidates best meets our needs. Some of the questions we are wrestling with focus on the “sticker shock” someone moving to CA experiences when they look at the difference in the housing market and cost of living. Ultimately for us, this is not a money decision, we can only offer what we can afford in salary, housing assistance, and moving expenses.
The PNC is meeting later this month with our representative from the San Diego Presbytery to discuss next steps as we prepare to offer a call to one of our candidates. The PNC members ask for your continued prayers; pray for us, pray for the process, and pray for the person God places on our hearts to call as our next Senior Pastor/Head of Staff.
PNC Committee Members: Nikki Butera, Tony Cook, Jeannette Haley, Mike Hughes, Elaine Johnson, Warren Johnson, and Linda Souerbry
April 17, 2021
God is good and we continue to be blessed throughout the Interim Pastor search process. We ask that you continue to hold us up in prayer for wisdom and discernment to do God’s will. Since the last update from this team 6 weeks ago, the Interim Pastor Nominating Committee finalized and disseminated the position description to regional Presbyteries all over the nation. We solicited referrals from the local Presbytery Committee on Ministry and directly reached out to other potential candidates. In all, we have spoken with 35 Pastors and from this pool, we are now actively interviewing six highly qualified candidates.
It has been a pleasure to speak with each of these applicants and talk about their journey in faith and pastoral experience. Although there is no set timeline to the upcoming steps, the next goal is to narrow down the list to finalists. The IPNC is working diligently in the hopes of announcing our Interim Pastor soon, so keep checking back for updates.
March 10, 2021
Hello, Church Family. We are a group of five RB Community Elders tasked with finding, recruiting, and hiring our Interim Pastor. Our work officially began several weeks ago with great support and process guidance from the San Diego Presbytery Committee on Ministry (COM). In keeping with the Presbyterian process, we will be filling a temporary, transitional role. That transition role allows us time to focus on the mission of our church as an entire congregation, and the interim pastor will be very involved in working with us through that process. Giving time to the process will ensure that our future senior pastor will reflect the vision we all have for RB Community.
We firmly believe that our path to taking the next step in God’s vision for our church begins now. We have focused on reflecting this belief in drafting the Position Description for the Interim Pastor and defining the key qualities they should possess. With the continued support of the San Diego PresbyteryCOM, we will circulate this opportunity and prayerfully consider each potential candidate. Although we do not know how long this process with take, we will keep you updated along the way as we work to discern God’s will and find the right Interim Pastor for RB Community.
Matt Brooks Interim Pastor Nominating Committee
Feb. 5, 2021
Pastor Bryan has gone to Texas…So who is our new pastor?
Unlike some other denominations, we Presbyterians don’t have a replacement pastor assigned to us. We trust God to Call a pastor to us, and we wait for us to hear God’s Call to know this is the pastor for us. As you might expect, this may take a bit more time than placing an ad and interviewing a few people.
We actually choose a new pastor in two steps, which often takes 18-24 months. To get us started, the session selects an Interim pastor to be with us for the time it takes to select our permanent pastor. Our session has already chosen five Elders to find our Interim. Because they have begun their work, we hope this first step will be complete in 2-3 months, maybe just before Easter.
The Interim Pastor helps us as a congregation, through a process of discernment and contemplation, to better understand God’s future plan for His (our) church. As our understanding grows, the Officer Nominating Committee selects the important Pastor Nominating Committee, who will be elected by the Congregation and represent us in our search for candidates. With God’s help, there is a pastor who will know that coming to RB Community is God’s will and our PNC will also hear God’s call to accept that pastor.
It is a long road, but one that will bring the right pastor to us. Please join our session and the whole congregation in prayer for discernment of God’s will.