“And the Lord who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love God, who have been called according to God’s purpose.”
Romans 8:27-28
On Saturday, October 12, the Caldwell Session met to take our next step in the pastoral search process: to discern what type of pastor we will call and install. After prayerful consideration and significant but respectful debate, the Session has decided that Caldwell will call a full-time Associate Pastor as the next member of our pastoral staff.
The Thriving Congregations report reflecting discussions with over 100 congregation members provided critical input to the Session’s deliberations, and we are deeply grateful to that team for their work. The report identified three themes for our desired next pastor:
- Diversity in pastoral leadership
- Dynamic preaching
- Commitment to continuity and stability in leadership, both now and after John retires (in about five years)
The summary details many other desired qualities reflecting the diversity of Caldwell’s congregation. As the report noted, “Even Jesus might have a hard time living up to and into all of our hopes and dreams, but we have them anyway.” The full report, and all of those characteristics, were discussed as part of the Session’s deliberations. Many members voiced interest in the idea of a co-pastor to ensure stability and continuity in leadership in the years after John’s retirement, planned in about 4.5 years.
After much discussion, the Session determined that the characteristics voiced by the congregation – to support and complement John, to learn from John, and to provide long-term leadership – could be found in either a Co-Pastor or an Associate Pastor. As is further explained in the Q&A section below, we will charge the Associate Pastor Nominating Committee (APNC) to reflect those characteristics as it creates the job description for a called and installed Associate Pastor, following the model Caldwell has utilized in recent years.
Taking all of your input into consideration, the Session outlined the following expected areas of focus for our Associate Pastor:
- 35% worship leadership and preaching
- 30% congregational care and building relationships within Caldwell
- 25% executive leadership of the church (e.g. working with Session, staff, and Committees on church initiatives, including Easter’s Home)
- 10% missions and social justice efforts
Considering the church’s growth in complexity and ministry, Caldwell needs a pastor who brings strong leadership and decision-making skills to add capacity to help run the church. As our collective vision evolves, we need someone to help engage and empower us to turn our best ideas into reality.
There are generally two types of Associate Pastor candidates: those who utilize the position as a learning opportunity to prepare them to be a head pastor, and those who are called to be an Associate Pastor long-term and love that work. We will charge the APNC to look for the latter. We believe this will be a highly sought-after role. Caldwell’s vibrant community is likely to attract candidates who seek a long-term position with meaningful responsibilities and who bring rich experiences that will help them succeed in serving Caldwell. When John retires, an Associate Pastor can, and usually does, stay on in their role as Associate Pastor, even as the congregation calls and installs a new Senior Pastor.
Next steps
In the process chart we’ve been following, we’ve reached midway through the “Prepare” column.
The APNC will begin meeting shortly to receive instructions from the Presbytery on the call process, and to complete a detailed Ministry Discernment Profile (MDP) based on the qualities and responsibilities the Congregation and the Session have identified for this role.
Two members of Session, Kim Bohannan and Tovi Martin, have been elected to serve on the APNC, along with seven other members of Caldwell. Kimbo and Tovi will be a resource regarding the Session’s deliberations as the APNC starts its work.
Once the MDP is completed and approved by the Presbytery, it serves as a job description that will be shared with the congregation, posted to the PCUSA online match system, and circulated in key denominational publications and websites.
From there, the work of the APNC shifts into a quiet phase that is highly confidential to protect the privacy and anonymity of those who hold current positions but may express interest. This is standard procedure in such searches. The committee may report on key milestones in the process, but you probably won’t hear from them for quite a while, and the APNC members will be bound to keep the team’s work to itself. A search like this can take up to 18 months to complete.
While the APNC works, we can continue to pray as a congregation for the future of our church, for our current leaders, for the APNC, and for the person that God is already calling to serve as Associate Pastor here in the coming years.
Questions and Answers:
Q: Remind me, what is the difference between a Co-Pastor and an Associate Pastor?
A: There are two main differences. First, a Co-Pastor would have equal authority and decision-making as John. Neither would report to the other, and they would equally share in the leadership of the congregation and staff. By contrast, an Associate Pastor would report to, and take direction from, the head of staff. Of course, all called and installed pastors are also guided by the Session and Presbytery.
Second, when John retires, a Co-Pastor can be eligible to serve alongside another co-pastor or, in certain circumstances, become our sole head pastor, subject to the review and approval of the Presbytery at that time. It is not an automatic succession plan but it is possible. An Associate Pastor, however, generally can not become the head pastor at the same congregation where they serve as an associate. Associate Pastors can, and usually do, stay on in their role, continuing their work under the leadership of an Interim Pastor and, eventually, a new Pastor.
Q: The Thriving Congregations report said the “most often noted hope” was to have a Co-Pastor to support and complement John, learn from him, and then lead us when John retires. If this is what the congregation wanted, why didn’t Session choose to search for a Co-Pastor?
A: The Co-Pastor model is rarely seen in the Presbyterian Church. As noted above, the model is defined as 100% shared leadership of the church and staff. John thought it important that the congregation be made aware of the co-pastoring model so that it understood all its options. However, broad experience and precedent at other churches demonstrate that a successful co-pastor model depends highly on finding the right person to step into the role. While this can be an attractive model for some congregations, it takes a very intentional approach to ensure that both individuals are always in sync and on equal footing and to ensure a healthy relationship with each other and with the congregation and staff. Looking for that exact “right partner” for John could easily complicate and lengthen the search—and even then it is a complicated model for all stakeholders to execute successfully. The Session believes that having a strong Associate Pastor to partner with John, with their own areas of clear responsibility and accountability, is the better approach given where we are in our church’s journey.
Q: Was this a financial decision? Did the Session decide to call an Associate Pastor because it would be less expensive than a Co-Pastor?
A: No. The Session is confident that the financial commitment needed for either type of pastor will be met.
Q: Since the congregation has expressed the desire for diversity in pastoral leadership, the new Associate Pastor will likely be from a marginalized group. Why will they be placed in a subordinate role?
A: This was among the factors the Session weighed. While John actively shares leadership and delegates responsibility and accountability with all staff members as it relates to their roles and responsibilities, he has served as our head of staff for 16 years. He has been an integral part of building up almost everything Caldwell is and does. Thus, the Session concluded that anyone joining the Caldwell pastoral team, under any title, will inherently step into a power imbalance considering John’s long tenure with this congregation. The Session acknowledged this reality, but ultimately determined that an Associate Pastor role could provide the most stability over the next 4-7 years.