Message from the Pastor - New Pastor
By now, you have likely heard that a new pastor will be coming this summer. This is not the first time NUMC has walked through this transition - far from it! - but each time has its own dynamics and its own story.
One of the unique elements this time is that the transition coming is of my choosing. Normally, a pastoral change in the United Methodist Church comes by way of a call from the Bishop or superintendent to the pastor saying, "guess what? Time to move on! God has a new call for you!" In our system, we aim to build strong congregations that are not dependent on any given clergyperson; ours is a model of "shared leadership" that doesn't leave any one pastor in a place so long that it becomes completely shaped around the gifts (or deficits!) of that particular pastor. I have the things I am good at, as does Pastor Jerad - and other pastors have their own gifts and graces. This movement is healthy for the church overall because it allows many congregations to work with different pastors and "shake up" patterns that might not be useful or helpful.
This go-round, NUMC has time to prepare for this change in a different way. I made this choice intentionally, because we have had to walk through some intense years during my tenure. I don't need to list all of the big challenges we walked through during the Morey era - it has been an eventful time! - but I did want the congregation to have a chance to remember who it is, regardless of its clergy: an open, inclusive, forward-leaning and outwardfacing gathering of the Body of Christ that has been about the Lord's work in Northfield for a very, very long time.
So what happens now?
The NUMC Board has already begun meeting with our district superintendent, Michelle Hargrave, to build what is called a "church profile." Using survey data and current program and community needs, they compile a point-in-time snapshot of who NUMC is, who you are called to be, and who you are called to serve. This profile becomes the basis by which the Bishop and the Cabinet (the gathering of all district superintendents in Minnesota) begin the work of discerning names of active clergy who God might be calling to take up the mantle here. Sometime this spring, they will introduce clergy to the Board for an initial conversation.
Once the match is made, the announcement goes out to both the new clergy's current congregation and to NUMC itself. I and Pastor Jerad will meet with the new person to help introduce them to all things NUMC, but the expectation is that you all will work with the new person to begin this new era together once they arrive this summer - so you are not filling a "Rachel" or "Jerad" shaped hole. Rather, you are collaboratively discerning what the partnership between laity and pastors will be.
What can you do?
1) Pray for and support the work of the leaders on the NUMC Board: your chairs, Kevin Dahle and Pierce FollansbeeDelong; SPRC Contact Sara Newberg; treasurer David Wolf; Secretary Carolyn Seas; and at-large members Allie Lyman, Jessy Hoffer, Warren Winkelman, Crystal Greenfield, Bruce Benson, and Thalia Duffield. NUMC has a history of excellent lay leadership, and this Board is a fantastic group of leaders who are prayerful, clearsighted, honest, and efficient. Lift them up in your prayers during the transition.
2) Pray for and support the remaining staff at the church: Ruth Kruse, our parish nurse; Sandy Vesledahl, our church administrator; Gregory Ennis, our children's ministry coordinator; Kathryn Steed and substitute Stephanie Ennis in the nursery; Arturo De Rosas, our custodian; Jesse Steed, our worship and communication technology consultant; David Miller with the band; Deborah Rae Miller with the choir; organists Joanne Rodland and Donna Paulsen; Kathy Szydlo, bell choir director. These folks are called and gifted in their work areas, and it has been a deep joy to serve alongside them.
3) Pray for the new pastor(s) and be ready to support them upon arrival. This could look like many different things, and there will be specific needs for this as we get closer, but I invite your open hearts toward what they will bring and what good things lie ahead at NUMC because they will help lead the way. My colleagues in the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church have remarkable and varied gifts across so very many ministry areas - I am excited for what you will do together.
The feelings that come with this kind of transition can be complicated - sadness, wonder, anxiety, confusion, and hope make a pretty sloppy muddy mix. And that's just what I am feeling! Allow yourself and others space to feel what they need to, and remember that God welcomes the whole of human experience in prayer. Let it be messy, and know that God makes beautiful things out of mud and dirt.
Beginning in April I will be around less as I take up my new position with Interfaith Action of Greater Saint Paul, but I will be supporting Pastor Jerad and our (spectacularly helpful!) retired colleagues during our remaining weeks in Northfield until we leave fully after Graduation Sunday. That will be a bit of a messy and muddy time - transitions always are - but we will make it through to the other side in our good God's time.
In the meantime, as we approach Easter, it is good to remember the disciples had absolutely no idea the resurrection was coming, let alone how it would change them and the whole world. God is at work in ways we do not see, and in people we have not even met yet. It is in this God we rest our hope for ourselves, the church, and the whole of creation.
Blessings, Rachel