November 16, 2023
Council News
The energy in the sanctuary this past Sunday was palpable as our section leaders, choir and the John Nyerges Quartet highlighted a Jazz and Jeans service that will not be soon forgotten. We are blessed to have so many talented musicians that support our church community and participate in our services.
Speaking of musicians, we have had some recent turnover within our group of section leaders. Both Jack O’Leary and Konstantina Gotouhidis will be moving on to new opportunities. We wish them well in their future endeavors and appreciate how they have shared their talents at FBC. Jack in particular has been our baritone section leader for over three years. As such, be prepared for some new faces and voices joining us soon.
The Council has spent a great deal of time recently collaborating with Pastor Joanne and discerning our resource gaps and needs. While we purposely took a hiring pause after our Associate Pastor moved on a year ago, our needs for support in various areas still exists. With a dwindling pool of Pastoral candidates, the Council is looking to take an alternate approach to addressing our needs. We have developed a job description for a Pastoral Assistant. The position will focus on Christian Education, Community Outreach and Program Management. This could be a full-time role for one person or divided into multiple part-time roles. Our hope is that by being flexible, we can attract a wider group of qualified applicants. Therefore, don’t be surprised if you see the position being advertised in the coming days.
If you have a contact or connection that you feel might be a good fit in one or all of these areas, please pass on the information. Oftentimes, the most successful hires come from word of mouth and relationships. You can pass along any suggestions to Pastor Joanne, Dave Hood or Melissa Spooner.
If we are successful in our search endeavor, we will ultimately bring the position(s) to the membership at our January annual meeting. This staffing concept is a bit different from the Associate Pastor role that the congregation approved back in 2019. As such, we want to ensure the congregation has the opportunity to weigh in and formally approve the position. In the meantime, you can reach out to any member of the Council if you have questions or feedback.