Interim Report on Interim Ministry June 2019
As we enter into the second half of the interim Ministry period, it seemed appropriate to give a report. At the urging of the United Church whose experience indicates that the succession to as long a ministry as Morar’s without an interim is often a failure, Council adopted an interim Ministry model.
There are four key objectives of this model:
- To get the Congregation used to change;
- To assist the congregation in developing a vision and plan for ministry and mission in the future;
- To focus on leadership qualities for a Minister that will fit; and
- To prepare information useful for the new Minister.
We have run through several workshops to learn from our congregational history, discern our core values, consider a motivating vision, and experience the promise of asset mapping. We have also picked up on some suggestions from a previous Edge survey in our congregation. We are seeking to renew leadership and we have been trying some experiments in worship (not all of them will be continued, some worked, some didn’t work that well). There will be more test runs and trials in the fall.
There are a number of key objectives which the Transition Team have completed:
1. Hiring an Interim Minister
2. Determining Core Values
3. Choosing a Motivating Vision. – After reviewing several suggestions and responses to Biblical texts, we determined we could stay with “Where the Spirit Soars, and the Heart Finds a Home”.
Key Objectives remaining:
- Determining a limited number of Focus areas for our congregation’s endeavours in mission. (September/October 2019)
- Feeding our findings into the process of creating a Congregational Profile and
- Job Description for a new minister. (By the end of October)
A small task group appointed by Church Council will then take these findings as part of constructing this profile and present it to the congregation for approval, sometime in November. If the Horseshoe Falls Regional Council (which replaces the old Halton Presbytery and the Hamilton Conference) approves it, Council can then select a Search Committee which will be trained and supported by a representative from the Region. They can begin their work in January 2020 with a view to calling a new minister to begin on July 1.
Alan Wheable
Chair, Transition Team