As many of you already know, Pastor Annemarie will be leaving Esperanza for a new position at Nobel Hospice. Her last Sunday with us will be November 6, 2022. We wish her well in her new position and thank her for her many contributions to the Esperanza community.
This means we, as a community of faith, are entering a period of transition.
On Thursday, October 20th the Esperanza church council met with Pastor Pat Reed. She represents the Grand Canyon Synod for churches in transition. She will be working with us from now until we have selected our new pastor. This will include identifying an interim pastor, preparing the congregation for the call process, and working with all of us throughout the next call process. An excellent reference for this process can be found in the Grand Canyon Synod website under the title “Congregations in Transition Moving Boldly into the Future” (https://www.gcsynod.org/transition).
On Thursday Pastor Reed answered questions that were posed by Esperanza council members. She also identified a possible interim pastor. The council will study and interview this candidate to ensure that this pastor will be right to serve our congregation during the period prior to our calling our new pastor.
Again, I encourage you to read and study the above-mentioned reference from the Grand Canyon Synod website. We’ll do our best to keep you posted and informed as we work together through this transition period. Thank you again for your thoughts, support, encouragement and prayers. Please pray that God will continue to lead us together through this time of transition.
— Jim Gisselquist
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