REV KYLE ARMENTROUT-STEWARD ACCEPTED OUR CALL

July 2022

The PNC Committee is pleased to announce that Rev. Kyle Armentrout-Steward has accecpted our call to be the pastor at our church.  Kyle grew up in the Alton area and lives 4 blocks from our church.  Kyle and his wife, Megan, welcomed their first child , a son, Forrest, on July 25th of this year. To learn more about Rev. Kyle, go to the menu bar above to "Meet First Presbyterian" and in drop down window, click on "Our Pastor and Staff".  Please join us on Sunday August 28, 2022 as we officially welcome Rev. Kyle as the new minister at First Presbyterian church at the 10am worship service.  Afterwards, there will be a luncheon so everyone has an opportunity to meet him.  We hope that all members and friends of First Presbyterian Church will be able to join us on this specical day.

 

UPDATE

May 16, 2022

During Palm Sunday weekend, the minister (from Ohio) and his wife came to Alton for a site visit.  He did inform us that he had done a site visit with another church in Ohio which was 1 1/2 hours from where they live now. On April 19, he called to let us know that he had accepted a call from the church in Ohio.  

We contacted the minister from California to find out if he was still interested and he was.  We divided his references and called each one.  On May 14, we received an email that he had accepted a call with another church.

We submitted a request with the CLC website to sends us some new PIFs.  

SECOND INTERVIEW

March 23, 2022

The second interview on March 13th with the candidate from Ohio went very well.  We had a second interview on March 15th with the candidate from California and that one went very well also.  The candidate from California requested that we send our yearly report, survey, and some other documents.  Everything has been sent and will call next week after he has time to review everything.  We are moving forward with both candidates because we all feel either one would be a good fit for our church.

FIRST INTERVIEW

March 6, 2022

We had a zoom first interview with a minister from the West Coast.  The PNC committee agreed we want a second interview which was set for Tuesday March 15th.  We heard from two other ministers that we had contacted and one has accepted a call and the other didn't think we were the right fit.  Next Sunday evening March 13th, we have a second interview with the minister from the Midwest.

INTERVIEW WITH ANOTHER PASTOR

February 27, 2022

We had a zoom interview with a pastor from the Midwest and we all agreed we wanted a second interview.  The second zoom interview will take place March 13th.  Next Sunday, March 6, we have a first zoom interview with a pastor from the West Coast.

DISCUSSION ABOUT PASTOR WE INTERVIEWED

February 20, 2022

The committee watched recent sermons and decided the pastor we interviewed on Feb. 6th was not right for our church.  First interviews were set up for Februrary 27 and another on March 6 for two other pastors. 
Other pastors declined an interview because one wanted to find a church on the East coast where he would be closer to his family, two are in conversation with a church, three pastors never contacted us back and two have accepted a call.

MEETING CANCELED

February 13, 2022

We did not have enough committee members to meet so we canceled the meeting.   

INTERVIEW WITH ANOTHER PASTOR

February 6, 2022

We interviewed another pastor.  The committee decided we need to watch some recent sermons before deciding if we want a second interview.  The pastor was contacted and the information was given to the committee.  We will watch these sermons in the next few days and let the committee know if they want a second interview.

INTERVIEW

January 30, 2022

We had our interview with the pastor.  After, we all agreed we would like a second interview.  The next day we received an email from the pastor that he did not feel called to our church.  We set up an interview for Feb. 6 with the other pastor.  

CONTACTED 9 PASTORS

January 23, 2022

Out of the 25 new PIFs, we contacted nine.  Of those eight, five never responded, one said not interested, one has accepted to be an interim minister, and one we will interview on Jan. 30th. The nineth one we will wait to set up an interview after the Jan. 30th interview.  

The remaining 16 either had no videos on line, no facebook or any social media accounts, update was more than eight months old, or after reviewing their PIF would not be a good match for our church. 

25 NEW PIFS

January 18, 2022

We heard back from two pastors and one is not interested in leaving the area and the other is in conversation with a church.  Right before the meeting we received 25 new PIFs.  

SEMINARY JOB LISTINGS & MIF PART 2 BACK ON LINE 

January 11, 2022

We posted our information for a minister on the job listings for Princeton Seminary, Louisville Seminary, and Columbia Seminary. Our MIF Part 2 is back on line. When our MIF (church resume) goes off line, we are unable to receive any new PIFs (pastor's resume).  The committee members wil review any new PIFs that are available now and report next week.

We received the link to the sermon but everyone agreed he was not a good fit for our church. 

MIF OFF LINE AGAIN

January 4, 2022

Our MIF Part 2 was off line again on the CLC website. Ruth Wimp will contact Jeff Ott to correct the problem.  We contacted seven more ministers. One only wants to be an interim pastor, one will record a sermon and email the link to us, one is in conversation with a church, and four did not respond. Claudia Droste will contact Princeton Seminary to find out the process to add our MIF to their job board listings.

MORE PIFs

December 14, 2021

Out of the eight ministers we contacted, seven did not respond and one did not want to leave the area where he lives. The committee decided not to meet the next two weeks because of the Holidays.  We will meet again January 4, 2022.

MIF BACK ON LINE AT CLC WEBSITE

December 7, 2021

Since our MIF just came back on line, we didn't have time to contact any of the new fourteen PIFs.  We decided to contact eight of the new PIFs which were divided among the committee members.  The other six we decided not to contact because there were no videos on line or their links did not work.

MIF IS NOT ONLINE AT CLC WEBSTE

November 30, 2021

We found out our MIF (our church's resume) was mistakenly taken off line by the Presbytery so there were no new PIFs.  Bob Thornberry has found pulpit supply through the month of January.

CANCELED MEETING

November 21, 2021

We decided not to meet this week because of Thanksgiving.

November 9, 2021

The PNC committe reviewed eighteen PIFs.  Of those eighteen PIFs, we decided not to contact seven, two said we were not a good fit, seven never responded to our email/phone calls, and two were in conversations with another church.

SURVEY

November 2, 2021

The PNC committe discussed the results of the survey.  We decided the results should be made available to our members.  Bob Thornberry volunteered to work with Dawna to find a way to condense the 82 page survey results to a shorten version.  None of the new PIFs from October 19 meeting returned our phone calls.  There were no new PIFs to research.

ZOOM INTERVIEW

October 26, 2021

We had a zoom interview with a pastor.  After the interview, the committe decided this candidate was not right for our church.  

PIFs

October 19, 2021

Last week, every member of our PNC took one to two names to contact. Three were not interested and the rest did not return our phone cal or email. More names were given to committee members to call.

SURVEY RESULTS

October 12, 2021

The survey results have been received and will take some time to go through all the answers.

The candidate we interviewed via zoom sent an email that he did not feel called to our church.  The other candidates that we called either did not return our phone calls or had accepted a call.  Each member of the PNC committee took another name to call.  

SURVEY IS CLOSED & FIRST ZOOM INTERVIEW

October 5, 2021

Today, we had our first zoom interview with one candidate.  All PNC members attended via zoom.  The survey is now closed and Hartford Institue will send results to Clauda Droste in about a week.

MIF IS NOW ACTIVE

September 28, 2021

As of September 20, 2021, our MIF is now active on the CLC website.  We received about 15 matches to research.  There were seven candidates that we decided to contact to find out if they are still open to a call.  Each PNC member took one name to contact.  The intial questions to ask were decided.

MIF 

September 14, 2021

We are still waiting for our MIF (our church resume) to be posted on then CLC website.  As soon as it posted, we will start contacting candidates.  We dscussed what questions to ask during our initial contact. 

SURVEY IS ONLINE

September 7, 2021

The survey is now available on our church website and printed copies are in the church office.  

Daid Cousley resigned due to personal reasons.  Claudia Droste will take over his job of calling prospective pastors.  Erin Frew will be the one to interview the candidates.  The MIF has not been posted yet due to technical problems on the CLC website.  We decided not to call any candidates until our MIF is online.

SURVEY APPROVED AND MIF

August 31, 2021

Printed surveys were handed out so we could do a final check.  Instructions to access the survey will be emailed through our church website.  There will be printed surveys available in the church office for those who do not have a computer.  The MIF (our church resume) will be finalized this next week and posted on clcpcusa.org. once it is approved.

MIF, REPORT ON PHONE CALLS TO CANDIDATES AND SURVEY

August 24, 2021

David reported that 3 of the 4 candidates had accepted a call and the other one did not return his phone call.  Our church MIF is being updated.  Hugh will email some more PIFs for the committee members to research. Hartford Institute was contacted about our changes for the Pastoral Survey.  Hopefully, the survey will be ready next week to email to our members.

SURVEY AND DISCUSSION OF PIF's

August 17, 2021

PNC decided on 4 candidates for David Cousley to contact.  The Hartford Institute's survey was discussed and ageed it was too long to complete so some of the categories were eliminated.  It would have taken 30-45 minutes to complete and now should only take about 15 minutes. Rev. Marc Wendleton from the COM (Commission on Ministry) made some recommendations to improve our MIF (Missional Information Form).

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY AND SURVEY

August 10, 2021

We elected David Cousley as corresponding secretary.  He will be responsible for calling the prospective pastors and be listed as the contact person on our MIF.  We discussed the PIFs we have received and chosen 10 that the committee will review and watch their videos this coming week.  The Hartford Institute has a survey that we can send to our members that will provide an opportunity to have their input with their vision for our future, their involvement, current ministry, pastoral leadership, among other topics important to our church. The survey can be completed on line, or a printed copy can be given to those with no computers and will be anonymous.  The cost is $200 for 49 or fewer responses or $300 if 50 or more responses.  The PNC unanmiously voted to pursue this survey.  We are reviewing the sample survey provided by Hartford Institute to see if we want to make any changes in the questions before it is available to our members. This survey will not only help in our search for a pastor but will also give our church and new pastor insight into our path for the future.

COMMISSION ON MINISTRY (COM)

August 3, 2021 

Our church MIF will be submitted by Ruth Wimp to Commission on Ministry (COM) liason, Rev. Marc Wendleton, for any suggestions to improve.  The COM is meeting on August 11, 2021.  PNC members are reviewing the PIFs we have received.

MIF (MISSIONAL INFORMATION FORM)

July 27, 2021

We contacted our church references that are listed on our MIF to ask permission to use them again.  Once the MIF is revised and approved, it will be posted on the "Church Leadership Connection" of the Presbyterian Church USA website so that pastors who might be interested in serving here may learn about our search.

 

WORKING ON AMENDING OUR CHURCH'S RESUME AND REVIEWING PASTOR'S RESUMES

July 20, 2021 

The PNC worked on amending our current MIF (Missional Information Form), our church's "resume".  The MIF is a document that describes in some detail our congregation and its hopes and needs for our next Pastor. Also PNC will be reviewing the PIF's (Personal Information Form) Pastor "resumes" this week.  The PIF's detail the education, experience, and theological stance of each paster.  We currently have 10 PIF's from the Presbytery website. The PNC meets weekly on zoom and once a month in person.  We will keep you posted on further developments.

 

PASTOR NOMINATING COMMITTE (PNC) HAS FIRST MEETING

July 6, 2021

The first meeting of the PNC was held.  The PNC (Pastor Nominating Committee) includes Chairman Hugh Mandrell, David Cousley, Recording Secretary Ruth Wimp, Erin Frew, Kate Strohmeier, Ric Stabell, and Claudia Droste.