What is the congregation’s or organization’s vision for ministry? Additionally describe how this vision is lived out.
We are followers of Christ—a community of congregations and ministries bound together by God’s love. We are humans who journey through blessing and brokenness, striving to be faithful, in need of connection and community, grace and repair, guidance and support, affirmation and encouragement, solidarity and celebration. We have faith that we each have been gifted and charged to a specific work of ministry in our particular time and place, the kind of work that changes lives. We are a people who accept that the ministry landscape is changing and that we need each other. We affirm that God is with us and at work in our midst. We are a body that tries to live faithfully together through covenants rooted in our love for one another. We are a polity that seeks to foster accountability for our promises to each other, a polity we have the collective power to change as needed.
We aspire to change, to grieve and to let go, to ask new questions, to challenge old assumptions, to seek joy, and to build different structures that more closely align with our mission. We work to make space for new partners and to assist each other with how we may fit into new realities where we may be unsure. We want to move into a new future together. |
How do you feel called to reach out to address the emerging needs of your community or constituency?
The Presbytery of Great Rivers (PGR) is geographically vast and diverse, a mixture of rural agriculture with groves and timber-lined streams and major cities. It reflects the changing demographics of our nation. Our churches range from small, aging rural congregations to larger, urban cultures. Despite PGR's great differences, our churches long to embody our connectional nature. For example, four congregations began discussing how they could do mission better together than apart. In 2022 they decided to form one new congregation in order to better serve their community for Christ. PGR recognizes its calling to relationship and partnership with member congregations, other bodies of the PC(USA), and both ecumineical and interfaith bodies. As religious landscapes continue to change and impact local, regional, and national bodies of faith, we seek someone to help us discern how to adapt to the emerging needs of our community and constituency, establish a plan for meeting them, and work together to embody God’s call in PGR and beyond. We have initiated conversations that have deepened our faith and inspired a shared vision, and we welcome the Spirit’s movement in bringing forth something new. Recognizing that PGR was designed as a twentieth-century corporation, we are aware that for us to live fully into our mission, the Matthew 25 initiative, and other ministry endeavors, we must reimagine our missional identity.
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How will this position help you to reach your vision and mission goals?
The Lead Presbyter (LP) position will help us with our aspirations to transform, connect, support, spiritually engage, seek justice, resource, and focus. The LP will lead our Presbytery in refining and implementing a new structure that will awaken, enliven, and enhance our worshipping communities. The LP will build upon the work of the Finance & Staffing Task Force Report, the 2020 Vision Statement, and the Matthew 25 Initiative. By providing pastoral support and coaching to our minister members the LP will equip and encourage those who engage in day-to-day community work. The LP will also engage in the ongoing growth of our lay leadership. The LP’s support will include the healing of divisions
within the Presbytery, addressing burnout among teaching elders and volunteers, and assisting to add value to church work.
By providing a regular and continuing assessment of the ministry and mission of the Presbytery of Great Rivers the LP will keep our vision in front of us. This will entail creating and facilitating plans to address challenges, cultivate accountability, and build upon our strengths. The LP will encourage and assist in the development of all types of ministries that support our 2020 Mission Statement and work to sustain ongoing programs such as the Commissioned Pastor program, grants for various local missions, grants for pastor sabbaticals, and camps. |
Provide a description of the characteristics needed by the person who is open to being called to this congregation and or organization.
Visionary leadership with practical support and connectional team-building assistance will be key to the Lead Presbyter’s (LP) collaborative relationship with the Stated Clerk and the Leadership Team. Skills such as leadership, communication, and collaboration will help the LP to refine and implement new structures that will awaken, enliven, and enhance our worshiping communities. A spiritually mature leader, the LP will foster stability, instill hope, and provide calm guidance through the uncertainty of change. The LP will provide a safe and caring environment in which all members of the community can openly express their dreams for the future and work to make them a reality.
An ongoing assessment of the ministry and mission of the Presbytery by the LP will will be crucial to establishing plans to address challenges. The LP’s ability to work collaboratively will enforce congregations’ connections with each other in order to facilitate common ministry goals and fellowship needs. Our churches, together, can be a greater, active, more visible presence of Christ in our hurting world. The LP will serve as a staff resource to Presbytery committees and will provide pastoral support and coaching to our minister members. Effective communications by the LP will encourage and foster new forms of ministry, new visions of worship and service, and be a comforting force in conflict resolution. |
What specific tasks, assignments, and program areas will this person have responsibility?
Notes:
• Please find the complete position description here.
• PIFs and supplemental answers must be submitted to greatriverssearch@gmail.com no later than March 19, 2023.
• Finalists for interviews will be notified on or before March 29, 2023.
• Face-to-face interviews will take place April 13-15, 2023. (You must be present for the duration.)
• The EPNC hopes to present our new Lead Presbyter for approval during the April 29, 2023 Presbytery Assembly.
• Preferred start date: Summer 2023.
Supplemental Questions:
Please electronically submit answers to the following questions, as thoroughly and succinctly as possible (4 page maximum):
- Into what situation have you put your heart and soul and yet failed to get was the outcome you desired? Conversely, into what situation have you put your heart and soul and succeeded? Tell us about the situations, why the outcomes were not and were what you anticipated, and what you learned about yourself as a result.
- What have you done to build trust and facilitate connections within the community where you currently work? Please give specific examples.
- What is your vision of a thriving 21st century presbytery?
- What abilities, sensitivity, and experience would you bring to an agricultural-rural based society, small church churches, and urban churches?
- What is at the heart of your understanding of God’s call on your life?
Remember, all PIFs AND supplemental answers must be electronically submitted to greatriverssearch@gmail.com by March 19, 2023.
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Optional Links
Great Rivers wesbsite is here.
Great Rivers' churches and their websites are listed here.
A map of Great Rivers' churches can be found here.
Synod of Lincoln Trails' website is here.
Presbyterian entities and mission partners:
Illinois Presbyterian Home
Kemmerer Village (in neighboring Southeastern Illinois Presbytery)
Stronghold Camp (in neighboring Blackhawk Presbytery)
Monmouth College
Blackburn College
Illinois College
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