Dear First Pres,
Thank you to all the members who were able to show up for our congregational meeting on Sunday morning. In case you missed it, the congregation did indeed vote to concur with Pastor Lana’s decision to retire at the end of the year. We also announced that there will be a retirement party for Pastor Lana on December 15 during the Education Hour. So, I encourage you to add that to your calendar. We’ll share more details in the weeks ahead. Also, a special thanks to those who were serving our kids and unable to attend the meeting. We appreciate you so much!
Of course, with this official action for Lana’s retirement come many questions about our future church staffing. So, here’s an update on how we are proceeding.
One of the standing committees for our church Session (leadership board) is the Personnel, Facilities, & Finance Committee (PFF). This is the committee charged to bring a recommendation back to Session about the future staffing model. The easiest thing to do would be to simply begin looking for new people to fill the two existing pastoral positions that will open up in 2020. However, the Session feels like we need to prayerfully consider what staffing structure will best serve a healthy future for FPC. So, the PFF is working diligently to discern its recommendation for Session. The committee recognizes both the sense of urgency that exists in our congregation to make sure we are staffed appropriately and the sense that we don’t want to rush into anything without patient listening for the Lord’s direction.
So, please join me in praying for this process. The PFF includes Ruling Elders Justin Fortmeyer, Bill Briggs & Allan Knepper, at-large members Gerre Brenneman, Katie Brown, and me. Please lift us up by name to the Lord in this season. Ask that the Lord will give us wisdom and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Ask that the Lord will fill us with vision for the future He has for FPC Fresno. And ask that the Holy Spirit leads the Session to discern God’s will for our congregation.
Meanwhile, we are working hard to solidify leadership for the areas of ministry that are currently under the oversight of Pastors Lana and Chris. I’m so grateful to the folks in our church who are stepping into leadership so that our ministries can continue to move forward, even in the midst of transition.
There are lots of answers we don’t yet have, but here’s what we do know: God is at work and He is faithful. He has a good plan for FPC. Our job is to listen for His leadership and do what He tells us to do. May Christ fill us with His peace as the Session does the hard but joy-filled work that you elected them to do.
Blessings,
Jeremy
P.S. Dr. Brian Schultz and I will be leading a Biblical Tour of Israel in June 2021. If you’re interested in learning more about this life-changing trip, please join me at 6:30pm this Sunday evening, October 13, in the Fellowship Hall. Meeting details here.
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