The following is information provided by the Call Committee on its recommended pastoral call candidates:

At the biannual church meeting, the call committee shared they had unanimously recommended two candidates, a clergy couple, to the church leadership team. The CLT approved this recommendation. Steps are underway to arrange for a congregational meet and greet with the candidates on June 13, 2024. More will be shared about this opportunity shortly.

In the interim, we want to share information about the two individuals. Please note, we will not share their names at this time as final details regarding the formal call, notice to their congregation and so forth are currently underway.

The couple met in seminary school. They accepted their first calls into ministry in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Her undergraduate degree is in English, and her master's degree is in Divinity. His undergraduate degree is in social sciences, and he has a master's degree in divinity and a master's degree in sacred theology. She currently serves as a solo pastor at a congregation about the same size as Messiah's combined campuses. They have 3 services on Sunday, one of which is contemporary. He currently serves as a solo pastor at a congregation a bit smaller than Messiah that is a Reconciling in Christ congregation (RIC). They have a Saturday evening service that is contemporary, and Sunday's service is more traditional.

They have complementary strengths and unique gifts.

They both are gifted mentors and seek to recruit and equip leaders in their congregation and community. They enjoy teaching, preaching, building a sense of community, and working with youth and family. Music and creativity in ministry programs as well as church activities are also important to them. They care deeply about their congregations and work hard to stay connected to the challenges members are facing, identifying needs they can assist with, and providing pastoral care. They have both engaged in community canvasing efforts to invite individuals to worship with them and ask what services they may be able to provide them.

He is trained and certified by the ELCA as a mission developer and redeveloper. He also serves as a mentor and coach within the ELCA. In his current call, the congregation has experienced double digit growth in all but one of the years he has served there. He has also led efforts to completely revamp their Sunday School and confirmation programs, and dramatically expanded their existing food pantry supplies for the community. He has a passion for communications/media to leverage all the various modes that can share the church's amazing message. He has worked with his congregation's lay leaders to share God's love and reign which has resulted in efforts with community partners to provide hot meals to those in need. One of his references described him as one in a million.

She is gifted at finding creative ways to connect with children. She is a very good writer and has created some unique bible study programs. One of which centered around the movie Encanto. Many congregations bought the curriculum because it was so interesting and creative. Areas of strength include conflict management and crisis ministry. She is also involved in a community council for individuals with disabilities. She seeks opportunities to bring the community into the church. Some examples include opening the church for a humane society adoption activity, earth day celebrations, an annual cantata, and inviting the high school band to perform. She also offered a local dance group the ability to use the church for weekly practices when they needed to find a new location. The dance group happily accepted, and the congregation supports the participants and their families by providing food, clothing and other things they may need. She is described by one of her references as being strong, vulnerable, and brave. And an overall wonderful human being.

References the call committee spoke with that knew them both said they are intelligent, skillful and have a heart for God. They will be a blessing to any congregation in which they serve.

In their leisure time they enjoy spending time with their two children; ages 10 and 4. They have two dogs, one of which is in training to be a service animal to their oldest child. The family enjoys art and music very much. They are looking forward to serving as co-pastors where they can worship together as a family, and fully leverage their complementary and unique gifts. They see a lot of opportunities at Messiah to grow our ministries. They are excited to join our congregation!! 

I know you will join me in welcoming them at the upcoming meet and greet on June 13th.

Warmly,

Vicki Taylor-Roskopf

Call Committee Chair