Hello everyone,

The elders recognize that the last few months have been a strange time, transitioning away from having Coby as our pastor. As we end 2022, things may be feeling a little uncertain. We wanted to briefly share a few things to bring a little more clarity and information as we head into 2023.

1) We are currently in the process of seeking new elder nominees. Four people have been invited to step into that role, and we hope to have a vote for new elders (at minimum we hope for two, but potentially all four) in early January.

2) This vote would happen at a congregational meeting, which will also cover the current status of the budget. We don’t have a fixed date for this meeting yet, but that information will be sent out in the newsletter as soon as we do.

3) To us, having more elders in place in order to establish a strong elder board is necessary before beginning any kind of pastoral search process. We do anticipate establishing a committee and initiating a search during the first couple of months in 2023. Depending on the process, this search may take another couple of months to resolve/complete.

4) Our initial follow-up with Trisha regarding the listening exercise went in a different direction than we originally anticipated, and the staff and elders used that time to get her counsel, as this was shortly after Coby stepped down. We do plan to do an additional follow up with her to discuss the exercise results more specifically, and will share that information when we get it.

5) While this has been a time of some upheaval, one of the best things that has come out of it is that the elders and staff have been working more closely together than we have previously, and this process is producing a more cohesive, unified team.

Please feel free to approach any of the staff or elders to ask questions at any time.