Pastor Search Team Blog

The Pastoral Search Committee has recently passed a major milestone as we have conducted several 'screening' interviews of prospective candidates.  These interviews are held with the committee and the candidate, and most have been conducted via Skype, enabling an on-line, 'virtual' face-to-face meeting across the miles.  These interviews are intended to help us narrow the field to a couple of prospectivee candidates who we intend to invite to Valley Church to preach and meet the congregation.  Early interviews have been encouraging, as we have spoken with candidates that are very much in sync with Valley's mission, and appear to be good fits with our culture and values.  We have more work to do, but these interviews give us real hope that we might have a prospective candidate in front of you soon. 
You may not have noticed, but we have added a new section to our highlights page for team status.  In the bottom left ofthis page, you will see a summary report on how many candidates have been considered, contacted, and screened.  Come back often to get the most up-to-date status.
The Search Team continues to feel the strong moving of the spirit in guiding our efforts and maintaining our focus on the task.  We ask for your continued prayers for this effort, so that we may remain energized, and that progress may continue.

In His Service - The Pastoral Search Team

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June was a major milestone in many ways for the Pastor Search team.  Al Gelder said his goodbyes, and then made his way to Michigan, offically designating Valley Church as 'vacant', and without a permenent pastor.  At the same time, the Pastor Search team and Council took some major steps towards finding our next Pastor.  The Church Profile for Valley was submitted to the denomination, which officially notifies the CRC that we are seeking a Pastor.  Later in July a team will review our Profile and make recommendations for potential matches with our needs and those individuals in the CRC looking for a church to Pastor. 
A second major milestone was the submission of our 'Help Wanted' ad to the Banner.  The ad reads: "Valley CRC is seeking a Gospel-centered pastor to shepherd our congregation. We are a thriving, community-focused church that utilizes a blended worship style. We are multi-generational, welcoming and affirming to all God’s children. Our safe suburban community in Central New York (Binghamton) is stunning in all seasons, with beautiful rolling hills, trees, rivers and valleys. If you are a caring communicator and feel the call to lead our congregation in shining Christ’s light in our valley, please contact Ron Crawford at ValleyPSC@stny.rr.com or visit http://www.valleycrc.com/pastorportal.html." and it will appear in the August edition of the Banner.
One final note of interest is related to the Banner ad.  We discovered that the ads submitted actually appear in the web version of the Banner before they are seen in print form.  We found this out because we have actually received our first interested applicant!  The team views this as a great sign that there will be interest in our opening.  We will, of course, be handling pastor information with confidence, but we will keep you informed of progress as we proceed through our evaluation process.
Finally, just a reminder to keep the Pastor Search Team in your prayers.  We are commited as a team to conduct this process centered in prayer, and that can only be accomplished with the prayers of the congregation we serve included.
Serving a Risen Savior!
The Valley Pastor Search Committee

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Welcome to the new 'Blog' for the Valley Church Pastor Search Team.  In this area over the coming weeks and months, we will provide you updates on our activities, our progress, and our planning for what comes next.  There are a few things that you should know about our team. 
First, we all agree we want this process to be transparent; that means we want to commnicate with you as much as we can so that you know exactly what we are doing, and why, in our search for a new Pastor.  No 'blackbox' processes here, we want you to follow us along this journey, not just stand at the end and wait for us to arrive with a selection.  Just know that,at some point in this process, confidentiality will also become a big part of the job, and there will be some things we won't share so openly (e.g. candidate personal info, interview results, etc.).  Please understand when that point comes along.
Second, we want your input.  While we are busy letting you see what we are doing, we also want you to provide us feedback and input.  We actually dedicate a part of every meeting to discuss conversations and feedback we have had from the congregation.  Please feel welcome to participate.
Last (but obviosuly not least), we are a very prayer focused and led team. Each us us beleives that God has already set the heart of our next Pastor in motion towards answering a call to our church, our job is to actively ask for His guideance, and listen to his whispers of how we should proceed.  Please support us in this prayer focused journey, by praying that we may indeed be able to do God's will.
Check back here often form more news and notes from the team.

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