Searching for a New Pastor

Check out this page for information on St. Andrew's search for our next called and installed head pastor.

  • October Message from the PNC

    St. Andrew's Pastor Nominating Committee thanks the congregation for the prayers and encouragement given as we’ve met the last several months. As part of our process, we have reviewed the documents from the Missional Planning Teamand prayerfully considered the qualities that will be needed in a new pastor.

    Since we began in March, we have reviewed many pastoral resumes, conducted hours of Zoom meetings and interviews, and called scores of references. This confidential process entails in-person interviews and discerning whether the PNC has found a candidate to extend a pastoral call. Several more things need to happen before St. Andrew has a new senior pastor.

    First, we need to decide whether to extend a call to any of our finalists. Once the PNC has a candidate in mind, the Presbytery will need to accept the choice. Then the candidate must determine whether he or she wants to accept the call. If any of these pieces do not fall into place, then the PNC will need to restart the candidate search. If a call is extended and accepted, then Session will call a congregational meeting to ask the congregation to vote on accepting the new pastor. At that time, we will be able to share information about and our enthusiasm for the candidate.

    While we believe we are nearing the latter stages of the call process, at this point we do not know for certain whether our task is close to completion or not.

    We ask for the congregation's prayers and support during this time of change. 

    — Becka Simpson, Elder

  • The Ministry Information Form (MIF), written by the Pastor Nominating Committee and approved by the Session in June 2020, basically serves as the "Help Wanted" ad for St. Andrew's next pastor. 

  • Our denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA), offers this informative booklet for explaining the procedures for calling a new pastor. The information presented includes the theology behind the call process as well as practical steps for moving forward.

  • Pastor Nominating Committee Elected

    St. Andrew Elects Nine Members to PNC

    During St. Andrew's first electronic congregational meeting,  the congregation unanimously elected the following nine members to serve on the church's Pastor Nominating Committee.

    • Kathi Anderson
    • Wes Habley
    • Thomas Hartley
    • Dean Oakes
    • Tim Patrick
    • Sara Penn
    • Aaron Shileny
    • Becka Simpson
    • Marylu Watkins

    These individuals elected will need our prayer and support as they begin working on the Ministry Information Form that St. Andrew will use as the primary help wanted ad for interested pastors to consider. The committee then will begin to look through applications and contact qualified pastors for phone and in-person interviews. Throughout the process, the PNC will be assisted by a liaison from the Presbytery of East Iowa, and many of the details of their work will have to be held in strict confidence.

    Any recommendations from the PNC will be just that: recommendations. The final decision about extending a call to a new pastor rests with the congregation, with the concurrence of the Presbytery. Updates and additional information will be made available regularly on this webpage.

  • In his January column for The Messenger, St. Andrew's interim pastor explains how St. Andrew's Nominating Team is assembly a list of 7 or 9 congregational members to serve on a Pastor Nominating Committee. The membership of that committee will need to be approved in a congregational meeting within the next few weeks.

  • As part of the Adult Education hour between worship services, St. Andrew's interim senior pastor explains the process for forming a Pastor Nominating Committee and beginning the search for the congregation's next pastor.

  • At the beginning of 2019, St. Andrew's Session appointed a Missional Planning Team (MPT) to make recommendations for the congregation's vision and strategy over the next 3-5 years. The team's report can be found here. After receiving the report in May, Session appointed several Task Forces to follow up on the Team's recommendations.