Since J.R.’s resignation as Pastor of Spiritual Formation, the Consistory has been evaluating staff needs and possibilities. A special task force was charged with exploring short and long-term gaps and opportunities. This task force engaged a process
of discernment that included prayer, discussion, and feedback from the staff and congregation.

The task force made two recommendations to the Consistory in September:

• Short-term recommendation. After conducting interviews of staff and ministry leaders we determined that much is going well, particularly
  Sunday morning worship, teaching ministries, children’s/youth ministries, and music. Key areas for improvement include lack of timely communication,
  lack of coordination in ministries, need to engage more individuals in ministry, and need for an increased ownership of ministry by members
  of the congregation. These gaps led us to this recommendation: That we hire a part-time communications and project manager/director
  position in 2019.
• Long-term Recommendation: The longer term issues of succession planning and strategic planning need additional Consistory, staff, and
  congregational input. We recommend a Fall retreat that will focus on vision, mission, and strategy with a specific eye toward staffing and
  succession planning.

The Consistory affirms the value of the long-term recommendation and will be convening this retreat soon. We also will continue discernment of the short-term recommendation by developing a job description and exploring the budget implications for the 2019 budget. We welcome your prayers for this process of discernment. Also, please pass your feedback or questions to any staff or Consistory member.