21 Mar Search Team Update
Welcome to our first Northlea Search Team update!
Donna Rutz (Chair/Council Rep), Lois Scott (M&P Rep) and Roger Touws (Congregation Rep) have been named to Northlea’s search team. Thank you for the confidence and trust you have placed in each of us. Shining Waters Regional Council has appointed a Pastoral Relations Liaison, Lynella Reid-James to train and guide the team through the process. Although we haven’t yet had our first training session, we have had a first gathering in Zoom on March 15. We spent time getting to know each other and agreeing on how we will work together and going over the responsibilities of the search team. We will be meeting in-person with Lynella again on April 3 for more in-depth training.
The search team met again after church on Sunday March 17, 2024 and began by reviewing Lee-Ann’s proposal, as well as looking at past Northlea minister position descriptions from 2015 (when Lee-Ann was originally hired) and 2018 (for Rev Ellen Redcliffe’s short-term supply appointment). We are currently working on putting together draft position descriptions based on the proposal.
Please know that the congregation is required to weigh in and vote on all position descriptions. Your voice is important. We will keep you posted as the search team continues our work.
So, what does the process look like? We see the search process for Northlea in two phases:
Phase One
The first phase relates to Lee-Ann’s request for a change in pastoral relationship. Lee-Ann’s position has been part-time at 32 hours, or 80% of the standard 40 hours for a full-time minister position. Her new request is to reduce her time further to a 20-hour per week, part-time call. Responding to this request is a priority for the search team.
At the same time, we will need a short-term pulpit supply minister, which will also be 20-hours per week, likely for a 6-month appointment. This short-term pulpit supply appointment would give some consistency in the pulpit on Sundays and pick up parts of Lee-Ann’s previous work. It would also give our congregation time to think about Northlea’s future.
Phase Two
Phase two would be a time of discernment for our congregation, where we would all participate in a meaningful consideration of Northlea’s future. Council will reach out to Shining Waters Regional Council for assistance on how to do this and will update you when we know more.
The search team would then work on a final position description based on the outcome of the discernment process. We may want to expand the search team at this point, add more members to have more voices at the table for this search and interview process.
Please note that congregation approval will be required throughout the process.
The next meeting with our PR Liaison is scheduled for April 3 and will have more to update soon. Please feel free to reach out to any of the search team or Council if you have questions.
If you are curious about the search team process and responsibilities, you can read more about it in the Pastoral Relations: Guidelines for Search and Selection guidebook found here:
https://united-church.ca/sites/default/files/pastoral-relations-guidelines-search-selection.pdf
We ask you to keep us and this process in your prayers.
Thank you, The Search Team