Your Time to Engage

May 28, 2019

By Steve King

The following was shared at the beginning of both Cherrydale worship services on May 26, 2019:

This is an exciting time in the life of our church family when we are trusting God together to direct us to our next Lead Pastor. We are now in the final phase of the search process in which we will be engaging with and voting on our Lead Pastor candidate, Tom Oostdyk.

At our Members Gathering last Sunday (May 19), the Elder Council heard two primary messages from you, our church family. First, select a day to vote on Tom in which the maximum number of members can be present (our bylaws require a vote to be cast in person). Second, provide multiple opportunities before the vote for the church family to engage with and understand Tom’s approach to ministry.

Therefore, on Thursday evening, the Elders reevaluated potential dates for a vote with a desire to have maximum participation and allow multiple times to engage with Tom before the vote. We eliminated our original date to vote on July 21 because many of you will be away, and we decided not to select a September date for several reasons. If we had an external candidate, September would be out of the question. The norm for an external Lead Pastor to candidate is one week of engagement with the church family and a sermon followed by a vote. Our bylaws only require that we provide two weeks’ notice before a lead pastor candidate is voted on, and we wanted to exceed that.

Because more of you will be in town in June and we want a date that allows you to have multiple opportunities to hear Tom preach and engage with him before the vote, we have selected Sunday June 23, 2019 after the 11:00 am service for the vote. If Tom is approved, he will begin as Lead Pastor on September 1, 2019 and at the same time I will begin my full-time role for three years as Senior Pastor Emeritus.

There are multiple opportunities over the next four weeks to engage with Tom (visit our website for details). He will preach twice (June 16 and 23), and he will be available to share his vision and answer questions on four occasions (Sunday, June 2 during both service times, Thursday, June 13, and Wednesday, June 19). He is also eager to dialogue with any of you personally during this time.

In addition, we have created a packet of information that will supply you with:

1. Tom’s resume, vision, and answers to many core questions
2. The details regarding our process and when you can engage with Tom
3. Answers to frequently asked questions

The Elders will be available before and after every service to talk with you and would welcome contact during the week. This is indeed a season of anticipation as we pray and fully engage in this phase of the process to confirm God’s provision of our next Lead Pastor. May we experience together the reality of Ephesians 3:20-21: “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”