Dear Friends in Christ,

God is up to something wonderful at Prince of Peace. Sometimes God makes us comfortable in the change/growth. Sometimes it feels “OK God, NOW what!?! It’s been almost a month since Peter made his announcement. For some, it seems like all this happened a minute ago and for others, forever.

I promised to keep you up to date.  This is the first of, likely, many updates from me.

My first thought: Be patient. God has us firmly in his arms and we are doing our part.

So….without further ado:

• We are taking the time to grieve Pastor Peter’s going and celebrate his next adventure. A special service is being planned for Sunday, April 27 to honor Pastor Peter and his family as they leave us and begin their new chapter. Please plan to be present (in person or via Zoom) to say “God’s speed and good-bye”. Following the second service, a potluck lunch will be held. This church is known for its good food and fellowship so let’s celebrate Pastor Peter.
• Prince of Peach Congregation Council Report is also scheduled between services on Sunday, April 27 beginning at 9:40am. We will meet in the Sanctuary. This is your chance to hear from council:
  • Status of the Build A Church Initiative (9 months) into the 3 yrs. Initiative
  • Current stats
  • Current financials -THANK YOU EVERYONE
  • Update on the transition process
  • Time to ask questions
• Current Church Updates: Will the various teams continue to plan, meet and execute their tasks? Yes!
  • Sunday Worship: Milt Warkentien, Music Coordinator, has agreed to take the lead on worship planning until an Interim Lead Pastor is on board. (THANK YOU, MILT!) So….if you are part of Worship Planning – Big Idea/Creative Arts, please help design and execute the summer planning. While we know an Interim is coming, we cannot wait until they arrive to make plans. If you sing, play an instrument, or are a worship leader – be ready to help Milt.
  • Property: If you are a Lawn Dog, Monday Morning Crew Participant or a part of the conversation with the Property Management Team – please continue to make our church a beautiful and inviting place to be.
  • Seniors & Visitations: Debbie Jorgens, Director of Visitation and Congregational Care, will be with us through May to help with the transition. Once she retires, plans are in process to cover her job until we know what the future holds. Senior programming and visitations will continue.
  • Sacred Settlement. We promised a year ago to bring a plan for the future to the congregation. This will not stop. There is no reason to wait for a new pastor to move forward. Michael Stetzler is heading up this planning process. I know you’ll hear more from him and the Sacred Settlement Development Team.
  • The Personnel Committee and the Congregation Council Executive Team are preparing interview questions for the potential INTERIM Pastor position. They will interview potential candidates and make recommendation to the Congregation Council for that Interim person.
• Interim Pastor: Nope, I do not know who God is calling to help us through the transition process. And….
  • The Personnel Committee have created and approved an Interim Lead Pastor’s position description. This has been forwarded to the synod to be used in the interim search process.
• Mission Site Exploration Team – This Tuesday (tomorrow, April 8), a motion will be made to create the team that will aide in creating the document (Mission Site Profile) that the synod uses for the Call Process. Michael Stetzler has agreed to chair this group. Watch for more on this item later.  HOWEVER, we will be looking for a small team to shepherd the process and for congregational input throughout this process. If you are invited to a small group listen session or a survey is created, please step up and join the conversation.
• Mission Site Profile – This is the document that details who Prince of Peace is as a congregation, what our mission and vision are, how we live out that mission, and what we are looking for in the next lead pastor. More on that to come.
• Call Process. I anticipate the congregation is somewhere between 6 – 9 months from the Call process. We have many voices to hear, and information to discern in advance of putting out a Call. This timing ensures we have the best possible candidates to interview.

So, are you overwhelmed yet? Sometimes it feels just that. I’m sure I’ve forgotten something. There will be more updates to come. We are a wonderful group of people, confirmed in God’s love and willing to take the time to do what needs to be done to ensure we move into God’s next plan for us.

Sincerely,
Deborah Cordes
Congregation Council President