What is the worship time of each congregation?
Each Sunday there are two services. Emmanuel & First worship together at 9:00 a.m. rotating locations. Zion has service at 10:30 a.m. This schedule changes annually |
Provide the schedule for each church school.
Sunday School takes place during the worship time for both churches. |
Describe the schedule for any other regular activities such as choir, youth groups, committees and outreach activities.
Each church has their own activities. First Presbyterian church has bi-monthly session meetings. Confirmation classes may be combined. |
Mission Statement (of yoked church).
The mission of First Presbyterian Church is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and his love to all people, not only those who attend our church but to shut-ins and to the community as well. Our goal is to provide a friendly caring Christian home for those who love the Lord and who seek to serve him with a strong faith based message and ministry. We do this by showing to others the Holy Spirit of God at work through preaching, teaching, living, giving and helping to meet spiritual needs in our community and beyond. |
1. What is the congregation’s or organization’s vision for ministry? Additionally describe how this vision is lived out.
As in the case with most congregations located in small rural communities, a fairly high percentage of our membership is in the older age groups. An important part of our ministry is meeting the needs of those who have devoted their lives to the health of our church. Our churches have been in ministry over 100 years and we look forward to continue providing a place of worship and fellowship to our members and our communities. We realize there are challenges and struggles in small community churches; therefore we choose to yoke with the three churches so that we can continue to fulfill our calling to share pastoral leadership. |
2. How do you feel called to reach out to address the emerging needs of your community or constituency?
The needs of the community are continually changing, much like the church. We reach out to the community for those looking for a church family. We offer Sunday School for both First and Emmanuel Church, we hold a Soup and Pie Dinner, Serve at the Banquet, we have Lenten Services with rotating schedule between all three churches. We look forward to working together to provide a ministry that will benefit all congregations. |
3. How will this position help you to reach your vision and mission goals?
We are looking for pastoral leadership that will enable members of the congregation to become more involved in the mission of the church. By effectively being able to communicate and relate to people of all ages, we need someone who can enable us to create an environment of sustainability, growth and creativitiy that will help us strengthen and grow the mission of our congregations. |
4. Provide a description of the characteristics needed by the person who is open to being called to this congregation and or organization.
The interim pastor we hire needs to have a strong faith and belief in the teachings of the Bible and loyalty to our shared ministry. Our congregations favor a more conservative theological viewpoint, which hopefully doesn't mean we are close-minded and not tolerant of different opinions. We need someone who is enthusiastic about working with people of all ages with a special interest in working with young families. He/she should provide leadership to our programs, and be willing to work not for us, but with us to achieve our goals. |
5. What specific tasks, assignments, and program areas will this person have responsibility?
*Lead worship that is relevant and meaningful - leaving members of the congregations encouraged and enlightened.
*Provide spiritual and administrative leadership to our congregations, church staff, and our communities.
*Administer the sacraments.
*Officiate at weddings, funerals, and special services.
*Lead Bible study
*Lead confirmation classes for youth.
*Provide pastoral care for members of our congregations.
*Serve as moderator for Session and Congregational meetings.
*Participate in Presbytery.
*Be willing to be involved with community events and have a presence outside of the church.
We the members of Zion Presbyterian, Emmanuel Presbyterian and the First Presbyterian Churches, realize that we alone would not survive without the other. Therefore the three congregations and the interim pastor need to put forth extra effort to show that a union like this cannot only work but that it does work. |
What is the worship time of each congregation?
Each Sunday there are two services. Emmanuel & First worship together at 9:00 a.m. rotating locations. Zion has service at 10:30 a.m. This schedule changes annually. |
Provide the schedule for each church school.
Zion's Sunday School is held during their worship time. Emmanuel/First's Sunday School is held during their worship time. |
Describe the schedule for any other regular activities such as choir, youth groups, committees and outreach activities.
The sessions will remain unique for each church and will meet monthly. All three churches will meet twice a year for a joint meeting.
Weekly Bible Study at Zion
Presbyterian Women meet monthly at Zion
Soup and Pie Supper is held at both Zion and Emmanuel
Serve at the Banquet
Deliver Meals on Wheels
Lenten Services with rotating schedule at each church
Trunk or Treat at Halloween (open to anyone in the community) |
Mission Statement (of yoked church).
The mission of Emmanuel Church is to share Jesus Christ and his gospel of love to all people, not only those who attend our church, but to the community as a whole.
Our goal is to provide a friendly caring Christian home for those who love the Lord and who seek to serve him with a strong faith-based message and ministry.
We do this by showing to others the Holy Spirit of God at work through preaching, teaching, living, giving and helping to meet spiritual and human needs in our community and beyond.
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1. What is the congregation’s or organization’s vision for ministry? Additionally describe how this vision is lived out.
As is the case with most congregations located in small rural communities, a fairly high percentage of our membership is in the older age groups. An important part of our ministry is meeting the needs of those who have devoted their lives to the health of our church.
Emmanuel is also excited to be having a re-birth of our Sunday School activities. After several years of not having many children, we now have an active Sunday School since we share services with First Presbyterian.
It is our hope that we can build from this base and attract other young families in the community that want their children to have the opportunity to learn about Jesus.
We realize that as a small church in a rural area we need to expand our base with younger families if we are to remain a viable part of the Christian community.
Our vision is to find a pastor that will work with us in finding these families and bring them into our church family, while also continuing to meet the needs of our current membership.
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2. How do you feel called to reach out to address the emerging needs of your community or constituency?
Emmanuel is called to make all feel welcome. We offer Sunday School for both First and Emmanuel Church, we hold a Soup and Pie Dinner, Serve at the Banquet, we have Lenten Services with a rotating schedule between all three churches and we host a Trunk or Treat event for the community children. We look forward to working together to provide a ministry that will benefit all congregations. |
3. How will this position help you to reach your vision and mission goals?
It is the goal for Emmanuel to make a special effort to emphasize attracting more young families to our churches. Seeking out an interim pastor who has great interest in this area that can work with us in this goal will help us identify these people in our communities, and tailor programs to attract them to visit and hopefully become involved in the lives of our churches. |
4. Provide a description of the characteristics needed by the person who is open to being called to this congregation and or organization.
First of all, the interim pastor we call needs to have a strong faith and belief in the teachings of the Bible. Our congregations favor a more conservative theological viewpoint, which hopefully doesn’t mean we are close-minded and not tolerant of different opinions. We need someone who is enthusiastic about working with people of all ages with a special interest in working with young families. He/she should provide leadership to our programs, and be willing to work not for us, but with us to achieve our goals.
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5. What specific tasks, assignments, and program areas will this person have responsibility?
Our interim pastor’s main responsibility is to help our membership develop and deepen their faith through his/her teachings by the way of weekly sermons and individual contact with the people who attend our church. This will include the various elements of pastoral care. Will also provide leadership and guidance to the session and provide assistance with groups within the Church if requested.
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