Call Committee

CALL COMMITTEE

News from the Call Committee 

The Call Service – On September 18, 2022 a large majority of our church congregation came to Bethany Lutheran’s call service to review 2 pastoral candidates and cast their vote for a new pastor.

The congregation cast a 2/3’s majority vote for Pastor Paul Scheyder from Christ Lutheran church in Niantic, CT.

Pastor Thress has called the pastor and he has provisionally accepted the call.

We will send the pastor our call documents. The pastor has 4 weeks to reflect and pray about moving to Salisbury, MD. Let us pray that Rev Paul Scheyder decides Bethany Lutheran will be his new home.

We will keep you informed as to any visits or news from Pastor Scheyder.

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You are invited to the congregational Call Service in the sanctuary at Bethany Lutheran Church on Sunday September 18th at 3:00. You will learn about the two candidates available for the call. Time will be available to ask questions after the presentation. Vote for your choice at our Call service on September 18th. We pray that God has shown us the best choices and support us as we pick our future leader for Bethany Lutheran church. Please be there for this important event.


Future Plans:

Once the candidate is Called and he provisionally accepts the Call, we will mail him the Call documents. The Pastor and his wife will plan a visit to Bethany Lutheran to meet the members of the congregation. The Pastor has four weeks to decide if the Call is final. We will keep you updated. We hope you will plan to be a part of this event.


Jennifer Friedel
Call Committee Chairman

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Good News!!  The Bethany Lutheran Call Committee has set a date for the Call Service. Circle your calendar for September 18^th at 3:00pm. We invite you to consider 2 pastoral candidates. The Call committee will present an overview of each candidate. Once the presentation is done, we will take questions and provide you with all answers we can supply. A vote will be taken and the count will be done by 2 call committee members. The number 1 candidate will be called for provision approval. We will be announcing the chosen candidate to the congregation at the end of the service. The Pastor then has 4 weeks to consider our call. He will probably ask to visit the church with his wife. It is an exciting time and a new beginning for both the pastor and the congregation at Bethany Lutheran.

We hope you will plan to attend and lend your voice and vote to the Bethany Lutheran congregation.

Please pray with our Call Committee that God will choose the pastor for us and lead him to our congregation. We pray that all members of Bethany Lutheran church help us to prepare our church for the arrival of our pastor by volunteering where needed. This is the time to get involved. There will be a lot of signs around the church asking for your assistance. Also check the Bethany Beacon for suggestions on how to get involved. Pray that we can provide a wonderful welcome for the Pastor God chooses.

Jennifer Friedel
Call Committee Chairman
Bethany Lutheran

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An update from the Call Committee

On July 18^th we finalized our 2^nd interview with our pastoral candidate. The Call Committee is now working on the pastoral candidate presentations to the congregation. Jennifer Friedel and Ken Medearis are preparing a power point presentation that will be shown to the congregation at the Call Service. On July 28^th the Call Committee will hold it’s next meeting to go over the comparisons of the interviews of the two candidates and are trying to finalize the presentation so the congregation gets a complete understanding of both pastors and their beliefs and Pastoral style. If we cannot finalize the presentation on July28^th we will hold an additional meeting on August 18^th to finalize the presentation.

We hope to announce a date for our Call Service as soon as we can. At the Call Service, Pastor Thress will officiate the Call. We will hold a power presentation in the church on a Sunday afternoon at 3:00 pm to present the candidates. Ken Medearis and Cindy Prag have been selected to present the power point presentations of the candidates. The congregation attending the service will be asked to vote on one of the two candidates the Call Committee presents. Maggie Young will be counting the votes when they are collected. At the Call Service Jennifer Friedel, Call Committee Chairman, will phone the chosen Pastor and present him with the call.

The Church secretary and treasurer are preparing the Call Documents for the chosen candidate. The Call Documents will be mailed to the candidate on the day of the Call.

The chosen Pastor will have 4 weeks to decide on accepting the call. He and his wife may visit our congregation at that time. We will fill you in as we get the details.

Please pray that the Call Committee can finalize the call process and that the Lord helps us to find the right words to convey the essence of each Pastor we present. We pray that our presentation will help all in our congregation to have a better understanding of both Pastors. It is our intent to help Bethany Lutheran grow in grace, love, and offer it’s support when we ask for you to help us decide which candidate God has chosen for us. In Jesus name we pray!

Jennifer Friedel
Call Committee Chairman

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The Call Committee of Bethany Lutheran church is working as hard as possible to complete our Pastoral Call. By July 18^th we will have interviewed both Pastor candidates and will present our impressions to the congregation at the Call Service. A date of our Call service will be decided at the Call Committee July 28^th meeting. We are planning for a Sunday afternoon service and hope you will attend. The Call Service date will be announced as soon as we have the plans in place.

Future Plans: Once the candidate is Called, we will mail him the Call documents. The Pastor and his wife will plan a visit to Bethany Lutheran to meet the members of the congregation. We will keep you updated as the Call Committee makes it’s plans. We hope you will plan to be a part of this event.

Jennifer Friedel
Call Committee Chairman

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The Call Committee held its first interview on July 7^th by zoom. We had a delightful interview with the candidate pastor and once the interview was over the committee discussed the answers for about an hour. Pastor Thress will pass on 2 follow-up questions to the pastor and the answers will be shared with the committee.

We will hold one more interview this month and then the committee will be voting on the date and time for the Call service. At that service we will share a presentation of the 2 pastors that are considering the Call. The congregation will get to vote their choice. Once the ballots are in and the congregation picks the pastor choice, we will call the pastor to consider coming to Bethany Lutheran church. He will have 4 weeks to decide.

I hope you will circle the Call Service date and attend. Stay tuned, the date it will be chosen in the next 3 weeks.

Jennifer Friedel
Call Committee Chairman

 

To the Bethany Lutheran Congregation from the Call Committee June 30th 2022

The Call Committee met on June 30^th.  We now have 2 candidates to interview for our new Pastor. Interviews will be held by the Call Committee in the next 2 ½ weeks. Once discussion on the interviews is finished, the Call Committee will be setting the date for our Call Service. We hope everyone will attend our presentation of the Pastor Candidates. At the Call Service we will be voting for a new pastor.  Please stay tuned for the Call Service date. We should have that information by July 28^th.

Jennifer Friedel
Call Committee Chairman

To the Bethany Lutheran Congregation from the Call Committee June 2022

Due to covid we had to postpone our June 9th meeting to June 16th. The Call Committee will read the candidate profiles at that meeting and discuss them. On June 30th we will allow an hour from 6-7pm for those that missed the reading. At 7pm on June 30th the call committee will discuss the interview schedule with Pastor Thress. We are planning to hold Zoom interviews in mid July and hope to plan the Call Service soon after. God has chosen our new pastor and we are walking the path to see him.

To the Bethany Lutheran Congregation from the Call Committee May 28th 2022

At our last meeting of the Call Committee, we finalized our interview questionnaire. Pastor Thress has informed us we have at least 3 candidates to consider for the call. Our Call Committee will meet on June 9^th to read the candidate profiles. If there are more than 3 candidates, the Call Committee will ballot on their top 3 choices.  Things are moving along but we still have a lot of work to do. The interviews will be planned and scheduled by Pastor Thress. This will take at least 2 months to complete. Pray for the Bethany Lutheran Call Committee and the church council as they work on the call process. We will keep you informed as we proceed.

Jennifer Friedel
Call Committee Chairman

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I am pleased to announce the Call Committee Chairman has received a list

of Pastoral candidates from the LCMS. Before we can review or consider

the list, all candidates must be contacted by the LCMS to make sure

they are interested in being considered for the call at Bethany Lutheran

Church. Our inviting church representative, Pastor Thress has promised

that the approved candidates will be ready for the call committee to

review in Mid-June. The call committee will then read the profiles and

ballot to pick the top 3, if 3 are available.

 

Here is a timeline:

 

The call committee has formed an interview questionnaire which will be

finalized on May 26th, once we review any congregational comments.

Candidate profiles will be developed from the interview and the

candidate profile, so all members can see and know the Pastoral

candidates we are considering. They will be presented at a Call Service

in a power point presentation so you will be able to see the candidate

and possibly hear them preach if that is available to show.

In July we will announce a Sunday afternoon Call Service for the

congregation presentation and balloting.

More to come.

God is Good, please bless our congregation and help us to see the pastor

you have chosen to lead us.

Jennifer Friedel

Call Committee Chairman

Bethany Lutheran Church

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May 13^th 2022

Congregation of Bethany Lutheran Church,

The Call Committee is sending you a working copy of the Candidate questionnaire for a new pastor. Time is of the essence, and we ask that you review the questions we have provided. Reflect in prayer on the role and function the new pastor will play at Bethany Lutheran.

Please email comments to any question by # number so I can present the comments to the call committee. We need your answers no later than May 23^rd. Please send any responses to:  [email protected] . Email responses are preferred but you can also mail your response or drop the response in the secretary’s door slot. The responses need to be received by the Bethany Lutheran office on May 23rd.  The Call Committee will make finial amendments to the candidate questionnaire that will be used to aid in the interview of several pastoral candidates.

I know the entire congregation is praying to meet a new pastor and his family. As a congregation we pray for Our Lord to send us a new pastor that will lead us forward into a bright future. We are expecting the return of our call very shortly and want to involve everyone in the process. Please watch for updates on the Bethany Lutheran Web Site and on our Face Book page for prayers and progress for our call.

Thank you for your consideration,

Jennifer Friedel

Bethany Lutheran Call Committee Chairman

Below is the questionnaire:

Call Committee Candidate Interview Questionnaire May 13^th 2022

          1. Tell us how you were called to God.

2. Tell us what you consider to be your strengthens.
3. Tell us what you consider to be your weaknesses.
4. Please describe a conflict you helped to resolve.
5. Which Ministries will you bring to Bethany Lutheran ministries?

6. The word of God can be shared in many ways. We can hear it, see it, feel it, share it, and express it to give people joy. Please tell us any special talents or interests you may have that would help you share the word of God with our congregation.
7. Bethany Lutheran is made up of an older population. Bethany Lutheran Church wants to grow so we have future generations to carry on our church. We realize growth can only be done if we attract younger members. Tell us about your experience with developing a youth program.

8. The pastor/Congregation relationship is a bit like blending 2 families. As such both families have a variety of expectations, some of which may be incompatible. How do you believe that your family would fit into our congregation, and what are your expectations for their support of this congregation as we all move forward?  How do you believe we can support your family as we make this journey together? In other words, what are your expectations of us with regards to    incorporating your family into our congregation?

9. Bethany Lutheran currently has extensive digital outreach reaching 1/3 of the congregation. Describe your personal involvement in digital outreach.

10. How do you envision lay participation in the church? How would you recruit people to execute that vision?

11. Do you favor having a Board of Elders?

12. What style of service do you prefer. How do you feel about a pastor dress code?

13. What are your experiences on counseling people?

14. Describe how you will interact with church council.

15. What are your long-term goals for Bethany Lutheran Church?

16. Are there any special circumstances in your life, that you would like to discuss with us.

        17. Do you have any questions for the members of Bethany Lutheran

 

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Notes from the Call Committee Meeting of April 25^th 2022

The Bethany Lutheran Call Committee held it’s 2^nd meeting on Monday April 25^th 2022.

Opening and closing Prayers were offered by Jennifer Friedel

All members were in attendance.

We discussed the fact that Pastor Nuss will no longer be our district visitor and that Pastor Thress would be stepping in. Pastor Thress was unable to attend the Monday meeting.

Since the Questionnaire is the Call Committee key focus, the committee has decided to meet twice a month on the 2^nd and 4^th Thursday until our work is completed. The next meeting is May 12^th at 7:00pm.

We discussed several questions for the candidate questionnaire. We have also assigned members with additional questions for the next meeting. Once the questionnaire is completed and reviewed the Call Committee will present it to the congregation for an approval vote and members can add any additional questions for consideration. This should occur sometime in June.

Call Committee Chairman

Jennifer Friedel

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March 28th meeting:

Oh Lord, Please lead our call committee so that we may spiritually consider the needs of Bethany Lutheran Church and pick a new pastor and his family to lead us in the years to come. We wish to help our congregation continue to grow as faithful servants through Jesus Christ our lord. Amen

The Call Committee first meeting- March 28^th 2022

Pastor Nuss gave us an opening prayer. Jennifer Friedel, Woody Willing, Louise Coffin, Maggie Young, Holly Adams, Cindy Prag, Joyce Hardesty, Cassidy Cavins were in attendance. Ken Medearis zoomed our meeting. Introductions were made by all the members.

Our task at hand is to form a questionnaire for our Pastoral Candidate that will represent the feelings of our congregation. The committee will study the answers that were compiled by the Congregational Profile survey send out in January. As we consider the questionnaire for our future candidate, the committee will be using prayer to help lead us to the best position. Once the questionnaire is finalized we will present it to the congregation for any additional input. This process will take us a few months. We will keep you updated!

Joyce Hardesty will be our recording secretary. She will report minutes on our previous meeting and record our discussions as we move forward.

Cindy Prag will be our corresponding secretary and will write to invite and thank all those involved with the call committee as the committee proceeds.

Cassidy Cavins will be our prayer coordinator. She will keep records and archive of all our prayers.

Our next meeting is Monday April 25^th at 7pm. We pray Pastor Nuss will be with us as we proceed.

 

Jennifer Friedel

Call Committee chairman

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Our call committee is now complete with 10 members. Thank you to all the volunteers who stepped up to this challenge. The names of the members are below. The committee will handle the process of “calling” a new minister for our church. The church council has sent the Synod’s Profile Packet to get the Call process started.

 The call committee chairman will be Jennifer Friedel.   The first meeting will be used to introduce and organize the group. We will name a recording secretary, corresponding secretary and a prayer committee with a prayer coordinator. Pastor Nuss will try to be in attendance. We will also zoom the meeting to any committee member who is unable to attend.

We will try to start our candidate questionnaire process used for interviewing future candidates. The call committee will look at many topics concerning the new pastor’s role and create a topic list which we will publish for the congregation to review. In each meeting we will consider topics for the questionnaire. The prayer committee will include a prayer to consider the topic.  We ask the congregation to pray with us! The call committee will update you with topics, questions and prayers.

Next the LCMS church leadership is going to get a list of candidates together for the open minister position at Bethany Lutheran Church and the Call Committee is going to look at those candidates. The call committee will bring the candidate list down to two or three and present them to the congregation. There will be a prayer meeting announced to pick a final candidate.  The Call Committee will try to give frequent updates to the congregation of our progress.

The Call Committee is composed of all age groups and backgrounds of the congregation.  We hope that you will keep the process in your prayers and also start praying for whatever spiritual leader God is already starting to prepare for the role.

Here are the names of the Call Committee.  Please pray for us as we review candidates for the pastoral call.  I hope everyone who is not on the call committee is prepared to help us in our mission to call a pastor. We will need your prayers and later we will need your aid.

Here is a prayer from the call committee.  We will be offering more prayers for the congregation, and they will be published at this link.

“Oh God please guide our newly formed Bethany Lutheran call committee. Please help us to see the needs of our congregation and lead us to the right pastor to fill our needs. I believe the congregation is looking for a pastor to fill their spiritual needs as well as oversee the welfare of our church.  We hope he and his family will enjoy their time at Bethany and become a loving part of our community. We know you are watching us perform this important task for Bethany Lutheran Church. We are ready to proceed with our work.”

 

Jennifer Friedel

Ken Medearis

Maggie Young

Woody Willing

Bill Weber

Cassidy Cavins

Cindy Prag

Joyce Hardesty

Holly Adams

 

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