Annual Congregational Meeting

To: The Congregation of First Pres SLO

From: Tim Smith, Chair of the Personnel Committee

Pastor John is letting me use his Midweek Reflection to communicate about the process we voted on this past Sunday. If you missed the meeting or if some of the details weren’t clear, this should get all of us on the same page.

The motion we overwhelmingly approved at the Annual Congregational Meeting is this:

“It is agreed the congregation of First Presbyterian Church of San Luis Obispo votes to participate in the Designated Pastor Process.”

This was a vote to start the process of searching for a Designated Pastor, and it allows Pastor John to have his name considered for that role. It was not a vote to hire or call John for that role now.

Here are the steps as the Santa Barbara Presbytery lays them out, and as I shared in my slides on Sunday—you’ll see that we are just at the start of this long list of to-do items.

· Session approves the process. (Done)

· The congregation approves the process. (Done)

· The Mission Study is completed.

· A Designated Pastor Search Committee (DPNC) is elected by the congregation.

· Candidates are considered in partnership with the Committee on Ministry.

· A Designated Pastor candidate is selected by the DPNC.

· The candidate is voted on by the Presbytery.

· The candidate is voted on by the congregation.

· The Designated Pastor is installed for a term of 2-4 years.

· The Designated Pastor can be called as a permanent pastor after 2 years.

As I said on Sunday, there is a long way to go, but we are ready to begin this process as the congregation approved at the meeting. We are committed to working through each one of these steps, and giving regular reports to the congregation on our progress. If you have questions along the way, please send them to me directly or through the church office.

Thank you for your prayers for the church, and for our future ministry.

Tim Smith

Elder and Chair of the Personnel Committee