Pastor Search Refined
Happy New Year from the Pastor Search Committee! I want to take this opportunity to provide you with an update on our progress and assure you that we are trying hard to work ourselves out of a job.
While we continue to search for God’s man to shepherd our church, we are encouraged and blessed by the magnificent work of our staff and officers as they “stand in the gap.” Furthermore, we have over 100 names on our master list and because of our inquiries into their activities, I can attest that godly men are doing the Lord’s work all across our nation. The good news for us is that as our search intensifies, we have multiple phone calls with a smaller subset of these candidates. We refine our knowledge of them by asking more detailed questions and by calling the references they have provided. The candidates refine their knowledge of us by asking questions about the Huntsville area and specific ministries of Southwood.
We rely on the counsel of many others but ultimately seek God’s wisdom. For this we are committed to making prayer a regular and substantial part of our committee meetings. Sometimes that is all we do. I recall a recent meeting where we decided we would have one agenda item: prayer. I was skeptical. I wondered how we would fill our entire meeting time with prayer. After our time was up and we had not covered several of the topics for which we wanted to pray, I realized my thinking was small. God was not bound by my skepticism.
We pray for each other and make a regular practice of praying for our church family at Southwood. In addition, committee members have maintained active roles in areas of ministry including the Session, Diaconate, women’s ministries and mercy ministries, allowing us to feel the heartbeat of Christ’s bride, then praying for her needs.
Since beginning our committee in February of 2009, we continue to grow closer as a small group. I heard Bill Nash once say that you are not a small group until somebody cries. Well, I am happy to report that we checked this off our list months ago. We each come from different backgrounds and bring very different perspectives to our committee. But we share an understanding that the task to which we have been called is bigger than us, and we are dependent on God to direct us and sustain us.
Thank you for your words and notes of encouragement. They are very meaningful to us. Thank you for your faithfulness in praying for us. Please continue to pray for us by name. Please pray that God will reveal His perfect will to us. Pray for the man God is calling to our church, and for his family.