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Earlier this year, on recommendation of the Trustees, the church, at our Mid-Year Business meeting, voted to create a new part-time, paid position of Operations Pastor. A committee of the Trustees, composed of Neil Lubke, Randy Kersten, Rick Mullen, Pastor Liz, and Jon Cruzan have been actively involved in recruiting efforts.

In our recruiting process, Pastor John Pethtel has emerged as a strong candidate for this new position.

To help you become acquainted with him, we welcome Pastor John to our pulpit. He will bring our morning message on Sabbath Day, January 14, 2023. Please mark your calendars now for this important event. We encourage you to attend in person or online. We are planning additional, more informal events for that day also so that you will have the opportunity to meet and interact with Pastor John.

To refresh your memories, here is the rationale for this new position:

Effective church operations are critical for the overall impact of ministry. Operations include a broad array of responsibilities including development and guidance of volunteers, facilities management, information technology, finance & budget, security, and management of supplies.

As is typical of a church our size, we have employed a variety of approaches to church operations from volunteers, to assigning tasks to paid staff members. Most recently, most of our operations functions have been assumed by or assigned to paid staff members. This approach has been successful to a degree but also has created challenges which we believe would be better met by a more consolidated approach. Additionally, as we look to the near future, we realize we will experience natural attrition in more than one of our paid positions as incumbents transition to new stages of their lives. Thus, we believe that the best stewardship of our ministry is to be proactive in implementing changes as we approach these anticipated normal transitions. The approach we are recommending is developmental rather than remedial and, thus, will allow us to stay ahead of a changing curve. A change in staffing in any organization means some degree of change for each current staff member. It is important to state that this proposed change is not intended to change or eliminate any current position. Rather, it is to prepare and position our church for changes of which we have been informed and which we know are inevitable.

A more complete list of job duties is available as is Pastor John’s resume. You may request a copy of either of those by contacting Jon Cruzan at: jcruzan@charter.net OR by phone/text at 608-290-6465.

Please add this initiative to your prayer life. It is a strategic and significant initiative for our congregation.