Transition Updates
Learn More Here...
On Sunday, June 9th, the Mission Leadership Team (MLT) held a special congregational meeting where Pastor Brice Bloxham was voted unanimously as Resurrection's next lead Pastor. Prior to the vote, Pastor Brice was introduced by the Call Committee as the final candidate at a Meet and Greet. Pastor Brice is excited to start his call at Resurrection! He will remain at his current congregation through the summer and will start at Resurrection on September 3rd, his first Sunday leading worship will be September 8th.
"Meet and Greet" with the final candidate is set for June 9th!
On Sunday, June 9th, after the second service, there will be a "meet and greet" with the final candidate for the position of Senior Pastor at Resurrection. Both services will be indoors on the 9th and we anticipate the meet and greet starting at 11:20am, which will be followed by a special meeting called by Mission Leadership Team to vote on confirming this final candidate as the Senior Pastor.
Please note that this candidate is currently serving a congregation, therefore their identity will remain confidential until June 9th. Due to this candidate's obligations at their current congregation, their start date will be September 3rd, and their first Sunday leading worship will be September 8th.
More details to come about the meet and greet.
Call Committee announces a Final Candidate!
If you were at church on Sunday, you heard that last week a candidate for Resurrection’s Senior Pastor position accepted the Call Committee’s invitation to serve as the final candidate.
We are very excited about what God has in store for this congregation! A lot of work, prayer, and discernment has gone into this process which started with three candidates brought forward by the synod. The Call Committee has followed the synod’s process. We have closely reviewed the final candidate’s application, conducted two separate interviews, talked to their references, watched many sermons online, discussed extensively how this person will fit in at Resurrection, prayed about the decision, and unanimously voted to invite this person to be our final candidate.
While we can’t wait to share more with you, we must also respect the fact that this person is currently serving in another congregation, therefore it’s important that their identity remain confidential for now.
This week the Call Committee will present information about the final candidate to the MLT. The MLT does not vote or approve the Call Committee’s decision. This discussion is to inform them and will begin their negotiations for salary and benefits.
The timeline for when Resurrection’s next pastor starts remains on target for sometime between mid-summer to early fall. Details still need to be worked out between MLT, the synod, and the final candidate.
Next steps will include an announcement from MLT of a special meeting to vote on confirming the candidate as Resurrection’s next called Senior Pastor. This vote will be preceded by a meet and greet, likely a few days prior, where members will have a chance to meet the candidate and learn more about their background. Please note this is not an interview of the candidate for the congregation, but a social gathering for the church and the candidate to get to know one another.
We appreciate your continued support and prayers!
Call Committee Members - Jerod Rauk, Christina Womack, Shawnee Krueger, Corey Ireland, Judy Houck, and Chris Erikstrup
The Call Committee is interviewing candidates in April!
The Call Committee’s primary objective is to discern who the Holy Spirit is calling to lead Resurrection’s ministry. Here’s a summary of what has occurred and what is to come.
The mission site profile (MSP) on Resurrection, which was completed by the Transition Team and approved by the congregation at the Annual Meeting, was uploaded to the Synod’s website in February. This document helps guide our search process by identifying who we are as a church, what we are looking for in our next Pastor, and helps match us to the appropriate candidates.
In order to prepare for interviews, the Call Committee conducted a mock interview with a local ELCA Pastor on March 21st. This was a great opportunity for the committee to receive feedback on our interview questions and how to ensure we were getting the most out of every interview.
Rev. Justin Grimm from the St. Paul Area Synod met with the committee on April 4th and provided us with 3 candidates. The names of these candidates will remain confidential until a final candidate is announced later in the process. Justin provided candidates that matched up with our congregation’s mission site profile. This is the standard process used for all St. Paul Area Synod congregations.
The Call Committee has scheduled interviews with all three candidates, taking place between April 11th and April 16th. We anticipate holding second round interviews with two candidates between April 29th and May 17th. This is our ideal time frame but may have to be adjusted due to candidate availability.
After the second round, the committee will present the name of a final candidate to the MLT, likely in late May or early June. The MLT's role is not to approve the candidate but they will be involved in negotiations related to salary and benefits.
The committee will make an announcement of the final candidate and hold a meet and greet at Resurrection. This is a time for anyone from the congregation to meet the candidate in a social setting. More information on this will come at a later time.
Following the meet and greet, the MLT will announce a special meeting for the congregation to vote on the final candidate. This usually happens within days of the meet and greet session. Assuming approval, the new Pastor will start between early July-early September. It is standard practice for current Pastors to give a minimum of 30 days notice to their current congregation.
Please understand the above timeline may change due to scheduling or events beyond our control.
We thank you for your support and prayers during this process.
Jerod Rauk, Christina Womack, Shawnee Krueger, Corey Ireland, Judy Houck, and Chris Erikstrup
Call Committee Members
Transition Update
Your Transition Team has completed their work. The report, Ministry Site Profile, they provided to the MLT and at the congregation’s annual meeting was approved at that meeting last Sunday (February 11).
The next phase of the transition belongs to your Call Committee.
As mandated by your constitution, your Mission Leadership Team has selected six members of the congregation to serve on that committee (Chris Erikstrup, Judy Houck, Corey Ireland. Shawnee Krueger, Jerod Rauk, and Christina Womack).
Careful attention was given to ensure representation of a cross section of the whole congregation. The committee was commissioned at the annual meeting and will have their orientation meeting with Rev. Justin Grimm, from the St Paul Area Synod staff, before the end of February.
The Call Committee will likely meet several times in March as they prepare to interview prospective candidates. They have a great deal of work to do in the coming weeks:
- Elect a chair
- Determine and develop the interview process they will use for all candidates
- Do a “mock interview” with a local pastor who is not a candidate
- They will receive names of candidates from congregation members and the Synod (See more about this process in a separate announcement)
Since most pastors will not be available for interviews during Lent, interviews will likely begin in April. The interview process can take a couple of months. So, in the meantime, Pray! Pray! Pray!
For your call committee, for the candidates, for the congregation.
Pastor Lamont
Transition Update
Welcome to a new year in the life of Resurrection Lutheran Church! 2024 will be a banner year for our faith community. In the coming months you will have the opportunity to choose new pastoral and worship leadership to join you in living resurrection, deepening your faith, and enlivening your service to God for the sake of the world!
Your faithful and diligent transition team has completed its work! As of the end of this week the draft of our Ministry Site Profile is being sent to the MLT for their consideration at their January 16th meeting. Following any comments or editing suggestions, they will make the document available online, on our website, and in print at the church ahead of our annual meeting on February 11th.
There will be only one worship service on Sunday, February 11th, at 9:30 a.m. Following that service our annual meeting will begin at 10:40 a.m. in the sanctuary. Your attendance at this meeting is critical. Please make plans now to be there.
At this meeting we will consider together the Ministry Site Profile (MSP), which is a portrait of who we are as a congregation as well as a statement about who we believe God is calling us to be and what kind of pastoral leadership we are hoping to find. If we approve the MSP, it will be sent to the St. Paul Area Synod for them to distribute to prospective pastoral candidates.
The Call Committee will also be commissioned at our annual meeting. According to your constitution the Call Committee is chosen by the MLT. They are now working to select members for this committee and its members will be announced to the congregation prior to the annual meeting.
Justin Grimm, Assistant to the Bishop of the Saint Paul Area Synod, will be present at our annual meeting. He will inform us of what the next steps are once the Call Committee is commissioned and answer questions you may have about the process.
All this is incredibly good news. With this timing the active search for your new pastor will likely be underway in March, even before Easter! Please join me in thanking our Transition Team members, Dave Paulsen, Shawnee Krueger, Jerod Rauk, and Jeff Murray, for their excellent work.
Together with you in Christ’s Service,
Pastor Lamont
Hey Resurrection Family,
Say hello to your fabulous Transition Team:
Shawnee Krueger
Dave Paulsen
Jerod Rauk
Jeff Murray
The team was recruited by the Mission Leadership Team in October and they have already had two meetings.
Their work begins with gathering documents and reviewing information from as far back as your 2016 “Holy Cow!” congregational vitality assessment back in 2016, to the broader community-wide “MissionInsite” study led by Justin Grimm in 2017, and your more recent listening sessions in 2019. They are also looking back at the last Mission Site Profile that was written when you were seeking a new pastor in 2016.
The next phase will summarize the key findings in the documents mentioned above and then gather current input from you. The team seeks to remind us all of what we have said about who we are and who we believe we are called to be, and to determine if you still agree with those statements or if some things have changed in light of our COVID experience and now the loss of key leaders.
Be listening and watching for opportunities to provide input into this process along the way. Your voice matters.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Lamont
So . . . What’s Going On?
I am sure questions are bubbling up in conversations among members throughout the congregation. The interim pastor arrived more than six weeks ago. What’s happening? Do we have a call committee working? How soon will we have a new pastor?
Fair questions. Resurrection is in a time of “intentional interim.” What that means is that change is not simply happening to and around us. But in fact, we choose to enter this time to do some self-reflection and re-assessment of our understanding of the mission, vision, and call that belong to us before we engage in an active search for a new pastor. The goal of this is to prepare us to make the best decision possible in selecting the pastor who will join our community of faith and help lead us into the future God has in store for us.
The first step in accomplishing this is for the MLT to establish a Transition Team to work with the interim pastor in this process. That team is being recruited as I write. We will begin our work together within the next two weeks.
As part of this process, they will review the good work you’ve already done in assessing mission & vision within the last few years, reviewing data and documents. They will also prepare some instruments; surveys, small groups, etc., of gathering current input from you in order to see if any priorities or understandings have changed following the disruptions of COVID-19.
This initial work will likely take a couple of months. You will be receiving at least monthly updates as the process unfolds. And, of course, you will be invited to offer your thoughts, hopes, and dreams for the future of Resurrection as we move along.
Meanwhile, the ministry and mission of Resurrection continue day by day. This includes an active on-going search for a new full time worship leader. Pray for your MLT, your Transition Team, your Staff, and for the life of this amazing and vital congregation!
Feel free to ask me any questions you have about this process. You can send an email to:
[email protected], or call the office. I am in the office Monday & Tuesday: 9:00 – 1:30, Wednesday 3:00pm – 8:30pm (confirmation/senior high group), Thursday: 9:00 – 1:00.
(These hours do vary somewhat depending upon evening meetings of special events.)
Your partner in God’s mission through Resurrection,
Pastor Lamont
As we turn to a new season, we also continue to move into new seasons in Resurrection's life. Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us that for everything, there is a season. This fall will hold new excitement as we celebrate Resurrection turning 25, welcome our interim pastor, Lamont Koerner, September 17th, and continue to receive applications for a new worship leader. Brad Kolstad is filling in temporarily with the worship team, as longer-term plans are made for worship leadership. We are grateful to Brad and Marcia. Your prayers for all of this are important! Thank you for continued prayers and support for those who are serving as leaders, those working on the worship leader hiring team, all who are filling in during summer travels, and for your own discerning for the season ahead. If you have questions about any of the current transitions, reach out to our Mission Leadership Team - [email protected].
- Interim Pastor Update: We are excited to announce that Pastor Lamont Koerner will be serving as Interim Pastor at Resurrection beginning Sunday, September 17th.
- Worship Leader Update: The Worship Leader Hiring Team has posted the position and is accepting applications.
Greetings from the Mission Leadership Team (MLT)! We have been busy working on transition planning for Resurrection.
- Interim Pastor- We have completed the interim job description and will meet with the Synod's recommendation this week. We expect to have an interim in place sometime in September. Until our interim is in place, there are various people scheduled to provide Sunday morning messages.
- Call Process- The MLT will also begin work on our Ministry Site Profile which is used by the Synod to help with the call process of our permanent pastor.
- Worship Leader- The hiring team has finalized a job description and the position is now posted. Learn more here.
As Resurrection moves through several transitions in the coming months, the Mission Leadership Team is committed to transparency in this time. We will do our best to keep the congregation informed and up to date. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to send an email to: [email protected] . Please check liveresurrection.org and our weekly newsletter for future updates.
First and foremost: Our prayer team is and will be gathering for intentional prayer for this time of transition. Our prayer team is praying for peace in this time of anxiety, clarity in this time of uncertainty, vitality in this time of seeking and for God’s Spirit to rest upon Resurrection, guiding us at every moment along the way. Please join us in prayer!
Pastoral Transition Update
On Tuesday June 20th, Bishop Lull from the St. Paul Area Synod met with the MLT and several key leaders for an exit interview with Pastor Paul and to walk through next steps. The next steps include Resurrection creating an interim pastor position description. As of today, there is not a date set for an interim to start but the St. Paul Synod is working to place before the MLT potential interims. The calling of an interim is the sole responsibility of the MLT, and we will work diligently to find a great fit. In the meantime, our amazing staff and other volunteers will be leading our preaching and other ministry initiatives. Please keep our staff in your prayers as
they take on more responsibility during this transition!
Worship Leader Update
The MLT has approved the formation of a search team whose purpose is to place before the MLT a recommendation for a new worship leader. The Worship Leader search team has the authority to craft the position description, seek, interview, and recommend a final candidate to the MLT. In this time of transition, MLT has the sole responsibility of hiring the worship leader. Please keep this process in your prayers.