|
Dear
Living Water Members, Winter Members, Former Members and Friends of the Selbo
Family,
In
an effort to keep the lines of communication wide open during our time of
change at Living Water Lutheran Church, where on July 20th it will
be Pastor Tim Selbo’s last service with us before his move to Gloria Dei
Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, we are sending along this update
along with a few reminders in general.
FAREWELL BRUNCH
FOR THE SELBO FAMILY
GRAYHAWK GOLF CLUB—FAIRWAY
HOUSE
JULY 20TH 2008
11:00am Coffee Hour
12:00pm Brunch Buffet
11:00am - 1:00pm Cash Bar available
1:00pm Program
Donations to offset the costs of $ 30 per adult & $ 15 per child under
12 will be appreciated.
ALL ARE INVITED—PLEASE JOIN
US IN SENDING THE SELBO’S OFF WITH GREAT MEMORIES.
Sign up in the Church
Narthex, Online at WWW.LWLCAZ.ORG
or call the Church Office at
480.473-8400
GIFTS FOR THE SELBO FAMILY
There
have been questions about gifts for Pastor Tim and family. The Congregation will be presenting them
with a gift of appreciation and will be something easy to transport as a
memento of their time with us. Many of
the Congregation have elected to give a monetary gift to the family to help
with the multitude of needs that will arise from their move. You can do this by cash or by Check made
payable to Tim Selbo. You can do this
as a direct gift to Tim directly or in a card from your family. If you wish to remain anonymous, you can
make the check payable to Tim Selbo and give it to Janis Fjeld or Marcia Page
in the Church office and they will make a single deposit to the Selbo account
from members of the Congregation. Your
name will be listed on the card that is given, but the amount will be
anonymous.
TRANSITION
UPDATE
Just
below this correspondence is a “Transition Update” which is the first of many
updates to keep the Congregation up to date on what is going on during this
time of change. These will always be
most current on the Church web site on the home page as “Transition
Updates”. Our goal is to over
communicate for everyone so use as needed.
Best
Regards
Living Water Church Council
|
|
|
On
June 27, the Church Council had the first opportunity to meet with Rev. Dr. Adele Resmer, the Assistant to the Synod Bishop for
Mobility. She will be our liaison to
the Synod as we go through our transition.
Adele reviewed a new resource for congregations recently adopted by the
Grand Canyon Synod entitled “Pastoral Leadership Transition Steps.” The process and each of the 5 steps are
designed to help congregations move thoughtfully, purposefully and effectively
throughout the pastoral call process.
The steps were designed using best practices from the other ELCA synods
as well as other faith denominations.
In this first of many planned communications to the congregation, we
will review the first two steps in the process.
Step 1 - Your
Pastor Resigns, Accepts a Call or Retires
Adele discussed the key steps following resignation
including notification to the Bishop of his/her intent to resign (completed),
notification to the congregation (completed), farewell celebration for outgoing
pastor held (scheduled for 7/20), Church Council meets with the Bishop or
Assistant to the Bishop to discuss the interim ministry during the pastoral
vacancy and explains the call process (completed) and the Personnel Committee
conducts an exit interview with the pastor (completed).
Step
2 – Interim Ministry Begins
Adele discussed the process for securing an Interim Senior
Pastor. This person will be appointed
by the Bishop and ratified by the Church Council. He/she will be assigned full-time to Living Water to continue the
ministry vs. merely be a fill in and will receive a compensation package
appropriate for a Senior Pastor. This
approach, called the “Intentional Interim Ministry Process” was adopted as a
resolution by the Grand Canyon Synod at the June 2008 meeting. The process is intended to enable
congregations with a vacancy to move forward vs. stand still as the call process
takes place. Often called “Faster
Pastors,” Interim Pastors are selected because they are very intuitive people
that can read an environment, develop relationships quickly, provide good
preaching and be very objective. They
go through extensive training in preparation for this role and will help us to
determine what is important to Living Water and what pastoral leadership we
need in our new Senior Pastor. The
Interim Pastor will not be available for call by Living Water. Given the expected length of the call
process (6-9 months after the congregational profile is received by the synod
office, 1-1 ¼ years in total), an Interim Pastor is needed to make sure the
ministry continues to prosper. It is
considered a best practice in the ELCA.
The synod hopes to have the Interim Senior Pastor identified and
available to meet with the Council during the week of July 21. If the Council
ratifies the Synod’s recommendation, he/she will be issued a call from the
Synod council and resign his/her current position.
During the Interim Ministry, the Council will appoint a task
force responsible for completing the Congregational Profile. The Profile will include the history of the
church, past and present pastors, membership makeup, budget, ministry
priorities and references. Adele will
be available to serve on the task force.
The Council will also recommend Call Committee members for
congregational approval. Adele
recommends that the call committee include only lay people, a variety of member
tenures (new members, founding members, etc.), and people that can focus on the
ministry and the church vs. their own agenda.
She recommends a maximum of 7 people plus an alternate with an equal
male/female split. At least one Council
member should serve as a liaison.
Step 3 – Call Committee Tasks, Step 4 – The
Congregation Calls a Pastor and Step 5 – Your New Pastor Begins.
Over the next few weeks, our focus should remain on thanking
Pastor Tim for his superb leadership as both the Mission Pastor and Settled
Senior Pastor of Living Water and giving him and his family a great
sendoff. We are blessed to have a
wonderful Associate Pastor, Marcia Kifer, in our midst. Her role at Living Water will continue and
will be very important during this time of transition.
We have a strong church and an incredible congregation. We need to work together to prosper and
grow throughout this transition. The
head of the church is Christ. The body
of Christ is the people. We are the
church!
Thank you,
Living Water Church Council
|
|
|
To All Members of Living Water Lutheran Church,
This week we all heard or read what we knew would some day
be inevitable but have always held out hope that it would not happen! Pastor Tim has accepted a call to another
congregation. I know that many of you,
just like it was with Julie Ann and me, visited Living Water one time while we
were looking for a Church home. We
heard Pastor Tim’s message, felt the warmth of the Congregation and made the
snap decision that this was our new Church.
I have heard this story again and again over the years that we have been
members. In the nine years that we have
been here, I certainly feel that I am a better Christian as a result of Tim’s
efforts.
Now it is time for Pastor Tim, who was the Mission Pastor
for LWLC to move on to another Call. He
has labored over this decision but has made his choice and will be moving to
South Dakota later in July. It is now
time for us all to keep the Selbo family in our prayers and wish them the best
for their move.
The Council has met and began the task of planning the
Transition that will occur at LWLC.
There will be many more meetings of the Council along with the Grand
Canyon Synod as we work through the planning of our future. It is our objective to move this along as
quickly as possible, but those of you that have been through a change like this
before, know it will take a little time.
You will receive communications over the next few weeks on
dates and events that will occur. This
will come through letters to your home, the Monthly Newsletter, www.lwlcaz.org and the Weekly Bulletins. The Council is committed to strong
Communications during this process. We
have a strong and unified Congregation and know that Living Water will continue
on its mission: “To Be and Make
Disciples of Christ”.
There are going to be many thoughts, concerns and ideas as
we go through this process of replacing Pastor Selbo. If you have any questions or concerns, please call or visit with
any of our council members
Our absolute best wishes to the Selbo family and thanks for
the opportunity to have shared a number of years together and for building
Living Water Lutheran Church into a vibrant home of worship.
Sincerely,
Ken Walker
Council President
|
|
|
“I can do all things, through Christ who strengthens
me.” -Philippians 4:13
By now, members and friends of Living Water have received my
letter telling about my calling to go to help lead Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in its ministry. I won’t go into further detail about that call, as most of you
have received that letter.
I do want to remind you, however, that as Living Water moves
through the next chapter in its life, God promises to lead the way. I recall when this community of faith began;
in its first summer (1998) I wondered if the ministry would ever get off the
ground. A couple of Sundays we had
about as many in worship as Jesus had disciples. At that point, I tried my best to take the pressure off of myself
by praying, “God, this is your church.
I will be faithful to this calling, but this is your church, so if you
desire this to happen, I’m leaving it in your strong hands.”
Today, ten summers later, I can look back and see that we
all were truly in the middle of a miracle.
You all know what a good and faithful place Living Water is, largely
because we have always lifted up our challenges and concerns to God in
prayer.
Yet, in a very real way, with the Mission Developer Pastor
departing, Living Water enters into a new phase and chapter of ministry. None of us knows exactly what that will look
like, yet, just as the prayer went up to God in 1998, so too, I want you,
first, to commit yourselves to being faithful to this place, and second, to
pray that God’s strong hands will lead and direct the ministry according to His
will. You still are in the middle of a
miracle.
God has a great future in store for Living Water. Please keep outreach in the forefront of
what you do in this place. All people
need to know and experience God’s love for them. Congregations who get turned in on themselves, or become content
with where they are, or who are not looking to grow, soon begin to die. You will give me great joy if you give this
ministry each and every day into God’s hands, even as you remain faithful to
Christ’s calling to go into all the world making disciples of Jesus.
I’m sad in many ways; taking leave of you dear people is not
easy for me or my family. Yet at the
same time I am confident and filled with hope in the God who leads us all into
His future. Taking the apostle Paul’s
lead, let us rejoice, for as we trust in God we truly can “do all things
through Christ who strengthens us.”
It has been my privilege, pleasure, and great honor to have
served with you at Living Water Lutheran Church. We are always together in the mission and family of God.
Pastor Tim Selbo
|
|
|