PMC Congregational Meeting 14 April 2024   draft of notes

  1. Moderator Barbara Yoder welcomed all to her first congregational meeting as moderator. She presented the agenda. Pastor Joanna Harader opened the meeting with prayer.
  2. Treasurer Roberta Renz gave the treasurer’s report. She provided paper copies of the current budget summary. We are at $32,000 income, but income is lumpy because of the unpredictable nature of contributions. We have spent about $23,000 and that is what we had budgeted, leaving us with about $8,000 balance. Special offerings for the Benevolence Fund and the food pantry are down. We will need to continue special offerings for these funds. The memorial funds are down a bit (from $1300 to $1200) because two memorials were realized – one for Roger Martin and the other for Lidia Pagan. Anne Bailey and Barbara Yoder used memorial funds to purchase trees in their memory.
  3. Western District conference minister Heidi Kreider is our WDC pastoral representative. She joined us as the liaison for Peace Mennonite Church. She recognized Pastor Joanna as a valuable part of our pastoral transition. Joanna’s service to our congregation was long and not typical so it may be hard to imagine church life beyond her leadership.

Heidi guided us through what pastoral transition looks like. She provided us with the one-sheet handout – Summary of Pastoral Transition Process – and took us through this summary which she has formulated into eight steps. She reminded us that we need to not be overwhelmed and take things one step at a time. Please refer to this one-page document.  It will be available through email and on the website. 

Step one has been accomplished. We are into steps two and three. Part of step two is the exit agreement. Heidi explained this sets out how Joanna and the congregation will take separate paths. Pastor Joanna will not participate in church events until after one year of a newly settled pastor. For the time between Joanna and the settled pastor we would require an interim pastor. We would need to discern what comes next and what the role of the new pastor would be. Heidi spoke about the curve of change, which means when a pastor leaves a congregation at first the congregation may feel energized, then sad and disoriented, then some new visions emerge, and then the congregation becomes energized again.

After an interim pastor is in place, we would select a search committee for the new (settled) pastor. We would need to show our facilities, our budget, etc., to share with a candidate. Heidi suggested a timeline for an interim pastor might be a year and there might be a gap in finding an interim or settled pastor. She mentioned an on-call Pastor or for the congregation to step up to pastoring. The congregation can learn who they are apart from the pastor.

She asked for questions.

  • Will Pastor Joanna’s family be able to attend church? The family is not the pastor and it’s a professional agreement with the pastor. Ryan will step away from the church for a while. Joanna’s kids are welcome. Jude will step in as our Everance representative. We still need someone to serve on the building and grounds committee.
  • Heidi talked about maintaining boundaries with the long time but former pastor.
  • Will it be harder to find a pastor if it is not a full-time position? Heidi did not have a definitive answer for this.
  • How long does the interim pastor serve? Heidi said there is an initial one year contract with a 30-day notice with the option of extending the interim. She noted we might not find a settled Pastor within a year.
  • How soon should the search committee start after the interim is there? Heidi answered “as soon as possible.”

Heidi said it is hard to decide several things at one time. What does the new pastor focus on? We need to be well prepared for the process so the new candidate knows what our priorities are.

Barbara thanked Heidi on behalf of the congregation for coming and speaking to us about transition.

  1. Committee reports

–Becky Janzen reported for the indigenous justice group and our advocacy for Oak flat Apache stronghold in Arizona. We are part of the network of Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery. The Apache are trying to save the land. Resolution copper wants the land. Aache Stronghold is taking it to the Supreme Court. We seek to support an amicus brief due by April 25, and we need consensus for our moderator to sign in support.  Becky made a motion that Peace Mennonite Church join an amicus brief through the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery on behalf of Apache Stronghold in their appeal to the US Supreme Court to protect sacred lands at Oak Flat in Arizona. This motion achieved consensus, as there were no objections.

–Committee members were affirmed: Anne on the coordinating committee, Sharon on the social committee, And Wilma on the worship committee.  

-For Peace and Justice Susan Rieger announced that two weeks from today is the Justice Matters Action Assembly at the Lied Center. Susan will be presenting about her mother’s care. She said our congregation’s goal is 25 people in attendance. Joe has joined Justice Matters. There are two major action issues. One is for better elderly care and another to eliminate homelessness by 2028. Gina Kaufman and Patrick Kelly support the actions. The Assembly is free, but you need a ticket and she asked that we write our name and Peace Mennonite Church on the ticket.

–Anne Bailey reported for Building and Grounds that new trees are planted north of the building. A Brandywine maple for Roger and two cherry trees for Lidia. Anne thanked everyone who showed up for workday. PMC still needs another the building and grounds committee. Anne thanked Ryan for his work on the committee.

-Joanna offered a huge thank you Roger Sims for all the work he does for the zoom worship presence, and we will discuss this further at a future congregational meeting.

-People thanked Rose and the social committee for the excellent Easter breakfast.

-for Christian education, Patrice and Joni would like to do a book study on the book “So We and Our Children Can Live”, by Sarah Augustine. If there are any ideas for Christian Ed, please let Patrice and Joni know, and they will help you get started.

-The Gracious Space committee reported that although we are in transition, we do plan to continue gracious space.

The meeting was adjourned.

Carol Grieb, recorder