wfn.org | Search Progressing For New Director of Congregational Ministries

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24-November-1998 
98397 
 
    Search Progressing For New 
    Director of Congregational Ministries 
 
    by Evan Silverstein 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Help wanted: must be visionary, service-oriented minister 
or elder with strong love for the church. 
 
    These are just some of the attributes a committee of six-elected people 
are searching for as it begins receiving applications for a new director to 
lead the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Congregational Ministries Division. 
 
    "It looks like we've turned the corner. Things are looking up. There's 
a more positive feeling among the staff," said the Rev. Joanne Hull, 
vice-chairperson for the Congregational Ministries Division Committee 
(CMDC), which is conducting the search. "It is our hope that we will have a 
candidate to present to the General Assembly Council and to the General 
Assembly for confirmation next summer." 
 
    Committee members are working on contacting those who have submitted 
applications or have been referred by individuals outside the search group. 
 
    They are also working with church organizations, and covenant groups 
that associate with the work of the division, such as the Association of 
Presbyterian Church Educators, the Presbyterian Mariners and Presbyterian 
Men, among others, to identify potential candidates. 
 
    Applications for anyone wishing to be considered are being accepted 
until Feb. 4. The committee hopes to begin the process of  narrowing the 
field of prospects in March and April with interviews for the post starting 
in May. 
 
    If all goes well, the committee will present a candidate to the General 
Assembly Council (GAC) for election in June. If a candidate is elected, 
then the matter moves to the General Assembly for confirmation during its 
meeting in Forth Worth, Texas June 19-26. 
 
    The new director will serve a four-year term overseeing staff and 
programmatic activities of the division, including conference ministries, 
pastor, educator and lay leader support, curriculum publishing, youth and 
young adult, theology and worship, mission interpretation, stewardship 
education, theological education, spiritual formation and peacemaking 
ministries. 
 
    In addition to being an experienced minister or elder, the successful 
candidate must possess management skills and a demonstrated  record of 
accomplishment. Hull said the ideal candidate will be able to work well 
with GAC staff and PC(USA)'s two other division directors. 
 
     " There's going to have to be a real leadership and partnership 
there," Hull said by telephone Nov. 24, from Charlotte, N.C., where she is 
associate pastor at Steele Creek Presbyterian Church. 
 
     "We want to find somebody who will be compatible and bring a diversity 
of gifts to that vast leadership." 
 
    The director's position became vacant last February when the General 
Assembly Council did not reelect director Eunice Poething for another term. 
Hull said her departure, which has been shrouded in controversy, has not 
damaged the search for a replacement. 
 
    "That was a very painful time for our committee and the GAC, but we're 
moving on," she said. "It has not hampered  us in any way. At this point 
that has not been an issue." 
 
    Richard M. Ferguson, who could not be reached for comment, has since 
served  as interim director of Congregational Ministries. 
 
    "I am impressed with the work to date of (the search) committee and 
we've made really good progress," said John Detterick, executive director 
of the General Assembly Council, who joins the six-elected members of  the 
search committee in helping to identify candidates for a new director. 
 
     "While we will miss the contributions of Dick Ferguson, who's done an 
outstanding job, we look forward to an outstanding candidate." 
 
    Hull said search officials are not predisposed in nominating a man or 
woman. Race and or ethnic origins will also not play a role in the process. 
 
    "We are searching for the best person for the position," she said. "One 
who is called to this ministry, and we are trusting in the guidance of the 
Holy Spirit as we go about discerning the will of God in this task." 
 
    "We hope that more names will be submitted to us and we encourage 
anyone in the church to help us identify a gifted servant leader to guide 
the ministry of this Division," Hull said. 
 
    Applications must be received by Feb. 4, 1999. Applications will 
receive a position description and supplemental materials upon receipt of 
application. Send applications to CMD Search Committee c/o B. Novy, 2242 E. 
Fifth St., St. Paul, MN 55119-3907. 

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