​THE NEXT STEP IN THE SEARCH FOR A NEW PASTOR

​THE NEXT STEP IN THE SEARCH FOR A NEW PASTOR

Pastor Jake Porter declined our call to become our Second Pastor. What do we do now? I would like to encourage us each to respond in three ways.

First, let’s acknowledge the disappointment. For the 93% of Bethelites who voted in favour of Jake’s coming, his saying “no” is a letdown. It has been difficult for the Search Team to work so hard only to be disappointed. It is difficult for all of us to have our hopes for a second pastor dashed. It is okay to feel not okay about this.

Second, I believe we should be hopeful. The search process is, well, just that: a process. We have learned that Jake is not God’s plan for Bethel. That means we are now just a little closer to knowing what God’s plan is. The five members of the search team are fully committed to carrying on. We remain confident that God will lead us to the right person at the right time.

Our team has also decided, with the Governing Elder’s approval, that we will be open to a broader range of people. We began our search saying that we would consider either ordained or unordained individuals, but ordained pastors and recent seminary graduates quickly became our sole focus. Now, we want to be open to God’s surprises. Maybe a fully ordained pastor is still God’s plan for us, but we are not going to close the door on a good candidate who may not yet have that qualification.

​Finally, we need to pray. We need to pray for Jake and Kris as they transition to a different part of God’s Kingdom. We need to pray for our church as we continue to search for the right person to serve at Bethel.--Pastor Tom

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