Pastoral Transition
UPDATES!
October 2024
The Transition Team's Work is Complete!
The Call Committee met with the Bishop in mid-August, and we've had several meetings since then to get organized, orient ourselves to the call process, and review the Ministry Site Profile (MSP). The MSP is a standard form used throughout the ELCA which we'll use to compile information of St. Luke's history, ministries, strengths, opportunities for growth in meeting the needs of our community, and identify the gifts we believe will be most important for our next Senior Pastor to lead us forward.
The Transition Team gathered much of the information we'll need to complete the MSP, but we want and will need more input from the congregation -- along with your continued prayers both for us and for our Senior Pastor to be called. We're planning two input sessions in November. The first, is on November 17th, to make sure we capture our congregation's understanding of who we are and our mission. The second session, on November 24th, will be to identify our most critical ministry tasks and the gifts our Senior Pastor will need to lead us. Sessions will be at 9:00 & 10:00 on those mornings.
Listening Sessions | November 17th & 24th at 9:00 & 10:00 p.m.
A Zoom option will also be available through the link here.
Meeting ID: 867 0063 2470
Passcode: 779528
In the meantime please ask questions and share insights with the Call Committee members on any given Sunday. Our Call Committee includes Sylvia Donaldson, Julie Edgar, Kate Gravel, Joe Kiel, Lisa Rogers, Shawn Stauske, Dennis Turke, Audrey VanBendegom and Martha VanBendegom. We hope to be easy to spot with our yellow-colored name tags, and we intend to be available at The Hub between worship services.
June 2024
The Transition Team's Work is Complete!
The Transition Team began their work in November 2023 and completed their report in June 2024. The Transition Team’s focus was on three questions:
Who are we?  What is our history, and how does that inform our present?  While large corporate churches have a tendency for high turnover of pastors and ministry leaders, the overall character of an established congregation tends to remain relatively unchanged. 
What do we do?  What are our mission and current ministries?  We looked at our guiding principles and reviewed the past few years of ministries and outreach, including noticeable trends as we transitioned from pre-COVID to post-COVID. 
Where are we?  What is the context of the community that we serve?  What changes and trends do we see?  This group focused on the community beyond St. Luke’s, including changes to the city and school district. 
You can read their complete report here
Thank you to the Transition Team for their great work: Aimee Solheim, Andrea Orlowski, Craig Pynn, David Miller, Elijah Lynch, Kate Gravel, Michele Stanley, Paul Raisleger, Sammie Endean, Shawn Stauske, Stephanie Spieker, and Pastors Naomi Garber and Julie Krahn. 
NOW the Call Committee begins their work. The Senior Pastor Call Committee will meet with Bishop Joy Mortensen-Weibe in July for the orientation to the process. The call process is a multi-step process and does take time. Please include the Call Committee, the continued transitional time, and the person God is preparing to be the next Senior Pastor of St. Luke’s for the Spirit’s wisdom and guidance.
The Senior Pastor Call Committee is:
Shawn Stauske and Kate Gravel (Transition Team members).
Joe Kiel, Audrey VanBendegom, Lisa Rogers, Julie Edgar, and Dennis Turke.
Martha VanBendegom and Sylvia Donaldson (Council Representatives).
Interim Pastors
We are joined by two Intentional Interim Pastors - Naomi Garber and Julie Krahn. Pastor Naomi and Pastor Julie are both trained as Intentional Intermims. This means they are especially experienced in guiding congregations through periods of transition and call.
If you're interested in participating in the call process, you can fill out the nomination form below.
FAQs
Has the call process started?
YES! The Transition team is meeting regularly and working hard on preparing their report for the call committee. The Call Committee members will be voted on at the annual meeting on February 7th.
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Will there be interim pastors?
We have two Intentional Interim Pastors with training and experience in congregational transition and call. Pastor Naomi (started September 2023) and Pastor Julie (started December 2023) will be guiding the Transition and Call Committees along the journey.
Will there be any change in worship and programming?
Online and in-person worship will continue to be the vibrant, spirit-filled worship St. Luke’s has always known. Our amazing staff will continue the worship we love, and alongside volunteers keep our programs strong.
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If you have any other questions, you can contact the church council at council@stlukes-elca.org,
or call the church office at (608) 831-6084.