Search Committee
A Message From Our Search Committee
The Lord has entrusted us with a most sacred assignment: to find an Associate Pastor for Holy Communion Church. Our faith community has been richly and continuously blessed by the workings of the Holy Spirit since our inception five years ago. We now feel the call to look towards the future and prepare for the next generation who will worship and praise God in our beautiful and welcoming church.
We are confident that through daily prayer and continued openness to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Lord will send us the person He wants to help carry out the mission of Holy Communion Church.
Everyone is encouraged to pray until God unmistakably provides our church with the Associate Pastor He has chosen to serve His people!
“For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)
Attributes We Are Looking For in Our Associate Pastor Candidate
WE ARE PRAYING FOR:
A candidate who is vibrant, who has some pastoral experience and some experience working with youth.
One who has the energy and a special desire to draw in and minister to our children and young families.
Interested in a full time/long term commitment to the Church.
Who has a deep seated belief and love for the “Real Presence” in the Eucharist.
A candidate who is passionate and fully committed to their Divine Calling to the Priesthood.
A candidate firmly grounded in Christ’s Biblical messages with the gifts to share them with the congregation in a meaningful way.
Believes in the preservation of all life from its very beginning until the very end.
A candidate with an open heart for “Outreach” providing Spiritual, Emotional and Physical support for Church members and those in need in the community.
A candidate with the capacity and gifts, to be a loving, respectful part of the team with our Pastor and the lay leadership, shepherding our members with love, humility, a sense of humor and a joyful spirit, welcoming all into our Church Community.
A candidate who understands and opens their heart with love and compassion to those who have suffered abortion, divorce, addiction, violence, prejudice and other difficult life situations.
A candidate with an impeccable character who exhibits a Christ-like character both publicly and privately.
If married, the candidate’s spouse has a strong commitment to the priest’s ministry and is willing to be a partner with them in their service to the church and community.
Prayer for the Search
As we continue our Associate Pastor Search we lean heavily on Our Lord and his promise in 1 Chronicles 4:10 , as we pray the prayer of “JABEZ”:
OH THAT YOU WOULD BLESS ME INDEED!
Dear Heavenly Father, we are not asking for more of what we could do for ourselves. We’re crying out for the wonderful, unlimited goodness that only you have the supernatural power to know about and give to us.
AND ENLARGE MY TERRITORY!
We believe you are asking us to enlarge the life of our church so we can make a greater impact for you. We put everything you have placed in our care into your Holy Divine Will as we search for a new Associate Pastor.
OH THAT YOUR HAND WOULD BE WITH ME!
We ask you to send the Holy Spirit upon us, paving the way, making us brave enough to accomplish what we have prayed for and are about to receive. Give us your power, your courage and your wisdom.
THAT YOU WOULD KEEP ME FROM EVIL!
We know the most effective war against sin and evil is to pray we will not have to fight. Keep us from making any mistakes when temptation comes. Protect the search committee, our families, our Pastor, our church members and our place of worship from all evil.
GOD GRANTED HIM WHAT HE HAD ASKED!!
FINALLY LORD, believing that we come to you humble and honorable as Jabez did, we trust you will grant our requests, as we ask all in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Search Committee Bulletin Updates
We have some encouraging news to share with you! As we mark the first-year anniversary of our search for a full-time associate pastor, we have one ordained priest who has applied for the position and a second lay individual with whom we have had exploratory discussions about the position. We have advised both individuals that, since we are still in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 virus pandemic, we are planning to proceed slowly and deliberately in order to assess the adverse impact of the governmental response on the Central Oregon economy and on the financial health of Holy Communion Church.
Over the past several weeks we have held discussions with a young married Anglican priest who has expressed serious interest in our associate pastor position. After spending time in prayer and discernment, doing due diligence on the ECC and HCC, and consulting with his bishop, he has advised us that he is prepared to go through our formal interview and vetting process. If selected to be our associate pastor, he would require training in the Catholic tradition, would need to learn to celebrate Mass utilizing the Roman Missal, and would need to be incardinated as an Evangelical Catholic priest.
We have also had an introductory phone call with a young married man who has a master’s degree in theology from the Duke University School of Divinity but has no ministerial experience. He has expressed an interest in learning more about HCC and the ECC while he continues to discern the Lord’s plan for his future. Based on his academic background, if he becomes a candidate and is selected to join us at HCC, he would begin by being ordained as a Deacon and would be required to serve in this capacity for at least one year prior to being considered for ordination to the priesthood. During this time, he would likely need to complete additional online course work and training, as determined by Father Jim, so that he would be fully formed and prepared for ordination.
In accordance with the fundraising plan presented at the Annual Congregation Meeting in late January, we are pleased to report that we have obtained verbal commitments from several members of HCC who are willing to increase their already generous giving to cover approximately 50% of the additional annual recurring funds required to pay for the associate pastor. This, coupled with the $145,000 we have available in the Growth/Savings account, is affirmation that the Holy Spirit continues to bless our beautiful church and that we should all continue to pray for His guidance as we consider these and other potential future pastoral candidates.
- work with youth leadership team to expand/enhance our youth ministry programs.
- be active in the community to attract a younger demographic to worship with us at HCC.
- assist Fr Jim, who is on call 24/7/365, and provide ready backup as needed.
- provide a seamless transition to Fr Jim’s eventual retirement so HCC will “Always be” a place where All are Welcome.
Q Has there been any interest in our position?
- We are 9 months into a 18-24 month process
- There has been interest, but no formal applications yet.
- 2 individuals have expressed interest.
- One, who was a newly ordained Anglican priest, accepted an opportunity to return home as AP at the Anglican cathedral church in SoCal.
- The 2nd, who has previously served as a Youth Pastor & Worship director for 10 years, and is completing an MDiv degree, is in periodic discussions with us as he discerns his pastoral call.
Q Are we considering candidates from other than the Roman Catholic tradition?
- During the first 6 months we focused our search on a Roman Catholic priest.
- More recently, the Holy Spirit has encouraged us to expand our search to include prospective candidates from other faith traditions that “believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist”.
- Any candidate from another faith tradition would have to:
- believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist
- be trained in the Catholic tradition
- learn to celebrate Mass utilizing the Roman Missal
- fulfill the requirements for ordination/incardination as an Evangelical Catholic priest.
Q Do we have any idea what kind of salary & benefit package will be required?
- Obtained nationwide salary survey of various church positions.
- Survey indicates that, for a church our size, the median Base Salary, excluding retirement & insurance benefits, for a full time AP position is $65,000.
- Coincidentally, the median household income in Bend is $65,000.
- Thus, we are using $65,000, excluding benefits, for planning purposes.
Q What is the impact on our annual church budget?
- When you include the church’s share of employee payroll taxes & insurance, the total increases to nearly $70,000. Based on the revenue forecast in the 2020 budget, this would require a 23% increase in annual donations, or $6,000 per month.
- On a family level, $70,000/100+ households = +$700/year or $2/day
Q Have we developed a plan to raise the necessary additional funds?
- Fund-raising plan has 3 objectives:
- Sufficient funds on hand to recruit, relocate, and help establish AP.
- Obtain pledges to ensure that we will have the additional recurring annual income required to pay for the AP.
- Obtain Legacy Gift pledges so that the generous giving of our current membership will continue in perpetuity so that HCC will “Always be” a vibrant spirit-filled place of worship for future generations.
- Whereas, we do not plan to launch a formal fundraising campaign at this time, it is imperative that we have conditional pledges for at least half of the additional recurring annual income AND several Legacy Gift pledges ASAP.
- We are praying that the hearts of those in our church who are the most able to significantly increase their already generous giving are moved to donate the additional annual funds required to meet the interim 50% threshold.
- If we are successful, when we launch the congregation-wide campaign, we would only require an average 10% more from each household.
As you do year-end tax and financial planning and consider making additional tax-deductible charitable donations prior to year-end, we would ask that Holy Communion Church be first in your heart and on your mind.
Reports To The Church Council
SEPTEMBER 2020
NOVEMBER 2019
To date, we have not had any applicants from our outreach to 46 Catholic monasteries and retreat centers nor from our job posting on the online version of the National Catholic Reporter.
Rev Cathie and Philip Young have begun reaching out to their Anglican network in search of Anglican seminarians or pastoral candidates who might have in interest in our associate pastor position. We are encouraged by the warm reception they have received early on in this effort. We are excited to report that, through their efforts, we have been granted permission to post our associate pastor position on the job bulletin board at Nashotah House, an Anglo-Catholic seminary in Wisconsin (www.nashotah.edu). We are also seeking permission to post our position on the job bulletin board at the Trinity School for Ministry (www.tsm.edu), an evangelical seminary in the Anglican tradition in Pittsburgh.
We have finalized a fundraising plan for our new associate pastor, which we will be rolling out at such time as we have formal candidates under serious consideration for the position. Based on a recent church pastoral salary survey we received from the Vanderbloemen organization, a professional recruiting firm specializing in church leadership positions, and other research, we have concluded that the cost of hiring a new full-time associate pastor will require a base salary of +/- $65,000, excluding benefits. An investment of this magnitude will require the additional financial support of the entire Holy Communion Church family. In the face of this large potential additional commitment, we on the Search Committee have become concerned about the current year-over-year 10% decline in offertory receipts at Holy Communion Church. Absent a reversal of this giving trend, our desire to hire a full-time associate pastor could be in jeopardy.
We appreciate your support and prayers, and we remain confident that the Holy Spirit will continue to guide us in accordance with His plan for our beautiful church.
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