PULPIT COMMITTEE
In the following video from September 24, 2023, Pastor Peterson announced to the congregation that he would be retiring at the close of 2024:
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Per the church’s Bylaws, a Pulpit Committee has been formed for the purpose of locating our next pastor. Work has already begun on the difficult task of locating his successor. As that work progresses, the Committee will provide monthly updates on this page as well as in the 11:00am Sunday service. Feel free to email the Committee at 
[email protected] with any questions, comments, or information on a perspective candidate. And please keep our church and especially the Committee in prayer as we seek the man God has selected as our next pastor.
(Note: A list of Committee members can be found at the bottom of this page.)
Updates
December 22, 2024
November 17, 2024
1. Our current candidate notified us on the 11th that he was ready to move forward in the process.
2. The committee’s next step is to interview the candidate’s references which we should receive next week. We have also ordered his background checks.
3. Once these two items are complete, the committee will interview the candidate via Zoom. With the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays, we predict this will occur the first week of December.
4. Committee members have already visited the candidate’s home church earlier this year. This included an enjoyable time of fellowship over lunch after the service.
5. Once all those steps are completed and both parties agree to move forward, the committee will work on scheduling a time for the candidate to come and preach.
6. As you’ve already realized, it is very unlikely we will have hired our next pastor prior to the end of the year. However, Pastor Nichols and Pastor Avriett have already been busy scheduling speakers for 2025.
7. In closing, please continue to be vigilant in praying. If you do that, then you’ll be doing your part to locate the man God has for us.
October 27, 2024
1. We are unfortunately still in a holding pattern waiting on our 2nd choice to let us know he is ready to move forward with us.
2. As you will remember from our prior update, we kept engaged with our 2nd and 3rd selections while we were moving forward with our 1st selection. However, another church approached our 2nd selection during that pause.
3. To date we have patiently waited five weeks. We will wait one more. We will also have our next meeting on Sunday evening, November 3rd at which time we’ll determine the appropriate next steps in our search.
4. Stay vigilant in your prayers. That is the most important thing that you as a church member can do in this process!
September 22, 2024
1. I believe it was just last week I cautioned you that this process wasn’t over yet.
2. Well, we had our first setback this week when the candidate we were pursuing withdrew. He and his family did not have peace about coming. Yes, it was disappointing news, but it is just part of the process.
3. During these latter stages we have kept engaged with our 2nd and 3rd selections. We’ve already reached out to our 2nd choice, and he is still interested.
4. However, another church has approached him. So, we will take a brief pause to see how the Lord leads him before moving forward.
5. We have been praying that God would send us the man He wanted. Thus, we can only assume this candidate was not the one He wanted for us.
6. Stay vigilant in your prayers. That is the best thing that you as a church member can do in this process!
September 15, 2024
1. Since our August 18th update the committee has completed their work on our 1st place candidate.
2. The final interview of the candidate was held on the evening of Thursday the 22nd. The meeting was held on Zoom and lasted over two hours. This was the first opportunity the candidate has had to meet all the committee members. Once the committee had presented all their questions, we opened the floor for the candidate to ask any questions he might have at this stage of the process.
3. After a few days to pray and process what was learned in the interview, the committee reconvened on Sunday, August 25th to make a final decision. Each member presented their thoughts on the suitability of the candidate. The meeting concluded with the board voting to recommend the candidate to the deacon board.
4. The deacons plan to meet on Sunday, September 14th to discuss and make their final decision.
5. If approved, we will work to have him preach in multiple services in October which will culminate in a vote by the membership.
6. As with every update, please remember to:
a. Be patient. This normally takes 18-24 months. We are only on the 11th month.
b. Be praying – yes, we are close. But please do not stop praying. If anything, please be praying more earnestly!
c. Specifically pray at noon on Fridays.
August 18, 2024
1. Since our July 21st update we have been focused strictly on our 1st place candidate.
2. We have completed interviewing all 5 of his references. In short, the responses we received could not have been better. The interviewees included both people that he has worked for as well as people who are currently working for him. And we were careful not to interview any direct relatives.
3. Additionally, all his background checks were clean. And the visit by a committee member and their spouse to the candidates’ home church went excellent. They were even able to take his entire family to lunch afterwards and reported thoroughly enjoying their time together.
4. The next step is the final interviews with the committee via Zoom. That is currently scheduled for next Thursday the 22nd. If a second Zoom meeting is needed, we will schedule it shortly thereafter. The purpose is for the committee to present their last round of questions as well as for the candidate to meet each member and ask any questions he and his wife may have.
5. Once all those steps are completed and both parties agree to move forward, the committee will recommend to the Deacon Board that the candidate should be presented to the church.
6. If the Deacon Board approves him, then we will schedule to have him preach in multiple services which will culminate in a vote by the membership.
7. As with every update, please remember to:
a. Be patient.
b. Be praying.
c. Specifically pray at noon on Fridays.
July 21, 2024
1. Since our June 23rd update we have reduced our field of candidates to our Top 3. Additionally, we have now prioritized the remaining 3 candidates into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.
2. Now that we have our 1st place candidate to concentrate upon, we are getting references from the candidate that we will interview, getting his authorization to do background checks, scheduling a visit to his current church, and hosting interviews with him.
3. Once all 4 of those steps are completed and both parties agree to move forward, the committee will recommend to the Deacon Board that the candidate should be presented to the church.
4. If the Deacon Board approves him, then we will schedule to have him preach in multiple services which will culminate in a vote by the membership.
5. While that seems like a simple process, there are a multitude of items that must be addressed and resolved by both parties before this process can be completed.
6. If at any point it is decided our 1st place candidate is not the one the Lord has for us, we will immediately turn our attention to our 2nd place candidate who is still very much interested.
7. As with every update, please remember to:
a. Be patient.
b. Be praying.
c. Specifically pray at noon on Fridays.
June 23, 2024
1. Since our last update we have been thoroughly reviewing our top 6 candidates. This has included reviewing the lengthy Questionnaire we provided them, listening or watching several of their sermons, reviewing as much of their and their families’ social media as we can access, and sending them additional questions that have arisen during our review.
2. We are almost done with the top 6. The evening of June 27th we will have our next meeting. That night we will thoroughly discuss each of the candidates with the meeting culminating in the selection of the top 3.
3. The next phase will include background checks, discussions with all their references, and trips to visit them wherever they may be preaching.
4. The conclusion of this phase will be recommending to the deacon board the candidate we feel should be presented to the church.
5. Although we had a goal of having our next pastor here before school begins in the fall, that seems unlikely with all the new pastor will have to do before moving here.
6. As with every update, please remember to:
a. Be patient.
b. Be praying.
c. Specifically pray at noon on Fridays.
May 19, 2024
1. We have been very busy processing candidates since the update in April. We have completed our review of the 5 brand new candidates as well as organized all candidates by priority.
2. I will remind you that the committee’s goal at this stage is to identify 5-7 candidates that are well qualified and feel the Lord would have them pursue the position.
3. Those who met our goal were sent a packet of documents that included information about our ministry as well as a lengthy questionnaire.
4. I’m glad to say that all six candidates have completed the questionnaire and are still committed to continuing with the process.
5. We had our last formal meeting on Monday evening, May 13th. In that meeting the members were given instructions on the multiple hours of in-depth research they must complete on each candidate.
6. So as of today, we have a great deal of information on 6 strong candidates that must be thoroughly reviewed in order to ultimately select one candidate that the committee will recommend the deacons present to the church.
7. As with every update, please remember to:
a. Be patient.
b. Be praying.
c. Specifically pray at noon on Fridays.
April 21, 2024
1. We had our last meeting on Wednesday evening, April 3rd. By that night we had already began reaching out to the Top 7 candidates. We are encouraged that our top 2 were interested and already taking the next steps.
2. However, the balance of our Top 7 were not promising. They were either pastors in large ministries or evangelists, and neither group felt the Lord was leading them away from their current ministries.
3. Because of this, we have already reached out to our 8th candidate. He also is interested and already taking the next steps.
4. Somewhat surprisingly, the Lord through different methods has continued to send names our way. Since the last update we’ve added 5 candidates bringing our grand total to 44 candidates. Of those 5 new candidates there are 2 to 3 that are very promising.
5. So as of today, we have 3 strong candidates already taking the next steps of reviewing documents and answering questions. And we have 5 brand new candidates that are going through our initial review.
6. As with every update, please remember to:
a. Be patient.
b. Be praying.
c. Specifically pray at noon on Fridays.
March 24, 2024
1. We added another 5 candidates since the last update, so that brings our total to 39 candidates.
2. We had our last meeting on Thursday evening, March 21st. By that night we had completed all of our initial reviews, and each member submitted their top 10 candidates.
3. By the end of our meeting, we had settled on a top 5. We expanded that list to be our top 7 as a couple of the top 5 seemed unlikely to be interested due to their current work situations.
4. Next, we will be reaching out to each of the top 7 to ascertain their interest and begin the interview process.
5. As with every update, please:
a. Be patient. This is a slow process.
b. Pray daily for God to send us the man He wants.
c. Pray specifically at noon on Fridays.
February 18, 2024
1. Our pool of potential candidates back in January was 25. Three weeks later it has risen to 34, and the additional 10 are all active in ministry. And we’re expecting more.
2. We have begun the initial review process and are almost done with the first 10 candidates.
3. Once we complete reviewing everyone in the pool, we will reduce the list to the top 5 and begin a very in-depth review including contacting the candidates.
4. On the homepage of the church website you will find a Pulpit Committee button that will take you to the Pastoral Search Committee page where you can review the updates the committee has provided.
5. Every update we give will include the following reminders:
a. Please be patient. This is a slow process.
b. Please pray on a daily basis for God to send us the man He wants.
c. Please pray specifically at noon on Fridays.
6. I’ll close once again my reminding you of Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
January 28, 2024
Thanks to the church for their continued prayer that the Lord would bring the right man to our church.
1. Our pool of potential candidates is currently 25. We appreciate your input
on that, and we have started the review process.
2. There are some people that have just recently joined us for the winter
months. If that’s you and you know of a potential candidate to become our
next senior pastor, please send the information to the committee at the email address above.
3. We are also revisiting those people or organizations that you previously
identified as might being able to make suggestions. Our first contact with
them, which of course was during the holidays, didn’t prove to be as fruitful as we had hoped.
4. We will reiterate our friendly reminder to you:
a. Pray often for God to send us the man He wants.
b. Make a special effort to pray at noon on Fridays.
5. Let’s close by reminding you of Philippians 4:6-7 “Be careful for nothing; but
in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests
be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
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Committee Members
Trent Avriett (Deacon/LOLCS School Board)
Jamie Becker (LOLCS Staff)
Dan Fralic (Deacon/LOLCS Teacher)
Brian Francisco (Deacon)
Bruce Galster (Chairman of Deacons)
Lee Hurst (Deacon)
Paul Little (LOLCS School Board)
David Mengel (Vice-Chair of Committee/Deacon)
Maresa Shelburne (LOLCS Teacher)
Caleb Steele (AWANA Commander)
Chris Steele (Secretary of Committee/Deacon)
Terry Templeton (Chair of Committee/Deacon/LOLCS School Board)
Our church is more than just a place to go or an event to attend; we are a 
