Squall ahead ~ all hands on deck!

Dear Ones in Christ, one metaphor for Jesus’ Church is a sailboat; I’ve written and talked about that from time to time.
Well, we’re in a squall; not a dangerous squall, but not smooth sailing, either. Remember the thing about a sailboat is that while we’re on deck, sailing and steering, the power for the trip comes from the wind, not our effort … our wind is the Holy Spirit.

This is the squall: the candidate that our Pastor Nominating Committee chose for us has withdrawn from consideration.

This means several things:
First, please take your prayers for our PNC to the next level. They will immediately begin reviewing resumes [Personal Information Forms, in PCUSA language] again. The good news here is that PIFs have continued to be matched with us during the time the PNC was courting the chosen candidate, so there is an immediate batch to evaluate. I’ve also asked our Presbyters, the Revs. Melana Scruggs and Susan Rosenbaum to begin looking for suitable candidates for our PNC to consider.
Second, I’ve also asked Pastors Melana and Susan to look for an ‘interim-interim’ to serve you during the time between my leaving and the successful conclusion to FPCR’s search process.
Next, we’ll move my farewell Sunday back to March 1st. So we will be saying our good byes on the 1st.
So, please be prayerful, calm and confident. The Spirit-wind continues to move us in God’s direction, and we are well equipped to continue our mission and ministries as we seek to build God’s Shalom in and around First Presbyterian Church, Rolla.

love and prayers from your temporary Shepherd, John