Pastoral Search Complete

Posted on by Shadyside Presbyterian Church

An Update from the Pastor Nominating Committee

Dear Shadyside Presbyterian Church Family,

We are delighted to share an important update with you. The Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC) of Shadyside Presbyterian Church (SPC) has completed its search, and we want you to know that God has led us to our next Senior Pastor. Throughout this two-year journey, we have been blessed by your prayerful support and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and we are confident that Shadyside will be blessed by the leadership and ministry of our candidate.

While we can hardly contain our enthusiasm, we are not yet able to share all of the good news with you. The purpose of this letter is to inform you of the timeline of events so that you will have the opportunity to meet our candidate when the time is right and participate fully in the process of electing this outstanding nominee as our twelfth Senior Pastor.

You are invited to attend a meet-and-greet reception for our candidate on Saturday, June 26, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. During the service of worship at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, June 27, we will hear our candidate preach. A congregational meeting will occur immediately following the service. (Links to details about each of these events appear at the bottom of this announcement.)

Although we could not be more excited about our candidate, we are mindful that, because our candidate presently serves another church, we must exercise extreme care in sharing our candidate’s name. Out of respect for the candidate and the candidate’s congregation, we have agreed to wait until the end of the month to reveal our candidate’s identity. Even then, we request that our church family will treat this disclosure sensitively, holding all information in confidence until June 30, when our announcement may be made public.

Having articulated the need for confidentiality, we know you are eager to learn more about this individual, and we also know you need to be well informed in advance of the congregational meeting. To that end, members will receive a mailing delivered via the United States Postal Service within the two days immediately preceding our candidacy weekend events. The materials enclosed in the forthcoming mailing will introduce our candidate to you in more detail just prior to meeting the candidate and hearing the candidacy sermon. Recognizing that news travels quickly in the digital age, we will not share the candidate’s profile online through the church’s website or social media channels until June 30 and thereafter, in keeping with our commitment to honor our candidate’s desire to respect both congregations and the different pastoral needs of each.

This approach may be a new experience for many in our congregation, but it has become the preferred practice for pastors and congregations as they seek to follow God’s direction in their mutual ministry. The Pittsburgh Presbytery confirms that several of our neighboring churches have followed this pattern as they have called new pastors recently, and we feel strongly that we are proceeding properly — balancing our own needs with those of our candidate and the congregation which will grieve the departure of its pastor.

We trust that you will concur, and we thank you for your patience as we allow our candidate the time needed to say farewell to our sister congregation in an appropriate way. We know that our candidate is grateful for this courtesy, which will facilitate the transition to ministry with Shadyside.

Please keep our candidate, along with our candidate’s family and church family, in your prayers during this season of change. We look forward to sharing more about our candidate later this month.

In hopeful anticipation,
The Shadyside Presbyterian Church Pastor Nominating Committee:
Susan Balaan; Sara Brooke; Don Coffelt; Percy Jackson, Chair; Adam Loucks; Ann Pauley; and Janet Rohrer

Candidacy Weekend Events at Shadyside Presbyterian Church

More from the Pastor Nominating Committee

Read previous updates from the Pastor Nominating Committee of Shadyside Presbyterian Church.