Our pastor, Rev. Bob Davis, has been called to the Carson city, Nevada Presbyterian Church, and preached his last sermon on Sunday, 10 February. We had a celebration of his service after the worship service on 10 February.
Many people have asked me "what do we do now? How do we select another pastor?"
The CVPC website has an article about the process in Announcements, copied below:
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Steps In Transition
1. Congregational Meeting: the congregation will vote on the motion to concur with the pastor’s request to dissolve the pastoral relationship. (January 27, 2019 at the annual meeting.)
2. Last Sunday preaching: (February 10, 2019).
3. Last day in the office: (February 14, 2019)
4. Temporary pastor (preaching only) that the leaving pastor will have arranged. (February 17 and 24.)
5. Session meets. The Committee on Ministry will assign a moderator for that meeting. The clerk of session should contact the Chair of the Committee on Ministry to make sure this detail is covered. (February 26)
a. Session will begin discussing the selection of an Interim Pastor Nominating Committee (IPNC), job description and compensation package. This discussion begins after the last Sunday that the leaving pastor is in the pulpit. The COM will have to approve the job description and compensation package before the IPNC begins interviewing potential Interim candidates.
b. They will also discuss the formation of a Mission Study team. The completion of a mission study is a mandatory step in the process.
6. Temporary pastors are normally arranged by the leaving pastor for one or two months; after which the Committee on Ministry will assign until an Interim has been selected and a contract established.
7. Session meets. The Committee on Ministry will assign a moderator for that meeting, again, contingent upon an Interim being selected and a contract established. A Mission Study Team should be elected. (March 26)
8. April 7, April 14 (Palm Sunday), April 18 (Maundy Thursday), April 21 (Easter) – The Committee on Ministry will assign temporary pastors from this point until (or unless) an Interim is selected.
9. Going forward:
a. The Mission Study needs to be completed. This team will work with a liaison from the Committee on Ministry (Chris Lenocker). The liaison will guide them through the process. After the Mission Study is complete, it is submitted to COM for approval.
b. A Pastor Nominating Team will need to be elected. The slate for the Pastor Nominating Team will be presented by the congregation’s Nominating Committee because it is an action of the congregation (in contrast to the IPNC, which is a function of the session).
c. The Pastor Nominating Team will translate the Mission Study into the Ministry Information Form (MIF) required for posting on the denomination’s Church Leadership Connection (CLC). The MIF is submitted to COM for approval prior to posting.
d. Once the MIF is posted, the PNC operates as a search committee. They receive Personal Information Forms (PIF’s) which are the Presbyterian version of resumes or curriculum vitaes.
e. When the PNC has narrowed the candidates down to a few, they will contact COM for preliminary vetting. The PNC is likely to view candidates in a neutral pulpit.
f. When a candidate is identified, a call is extended including job description and terms. When the candidate accepts, COM will have representatives meet with the individual to “credential” them. That will take place prior to the individual preaching a candidate sermon. (The “credentialing” is waived if the candidate is already a member in good standing of San Diego Presbytery.)
g. The candidate is presented to the congregation. The candidate preaches a sermon for the congregation. A congregational meeting follows to vote on the candidate and the terms of call.
h. Upon approval of the congregation, the candidate is presented to the presbytery for examination. (This takes place regardless of whether the candidate is a member in good standing of San Diego Presbytery).
i. The final step of the process is the installation service for the called pastor. The installation is an act of San Diego Presbytery. An administrative commission is formed by recommendation of the called pastor, presented to Presbytery for approval by the Committee on Ministry.
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So how long will this take?
I was the chair of the Pastor Nominating Committee that called Associate Pastor Jim Rauch to CVPC in 1987. That took at least two years.
I was a member of the Pastor Nominating Committee that called Senior Pastor Paul Fisher to CVPC in 1998 (?). That took at least two years.
Two to three years seems to be the norm for this process. The Mission Study takes awhile (6 to 12 months), the PNC process takes another year or two.
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