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Hi everyone! I trust your week is going well.

In last week’s newsletter, I said I’d be providing you with a more business-oriented update this week, with a special focus on staff-related matters. There’s enough to share that I’m just going to jump right in. Sorry, this will be a bit longer than usual. (Still shorter than a sermon!)

Over the past few months, I’ve had a number of conversations with people about our pastoral staff team—specifically, over whether we should add another person or two to the mix, how, and when. The subject came up during our recent budget chat, but that certainly wasn’t the only place. Those who’ve been around WVBC for any time are very conscious that in our recent history, we’ve usually had a larger pastoral team, with people serving in various combinations to give leadership to kids’ ministry, youth, discipleship, Mandarin ministry, etc.  By contrast, this past year the pastoral staff team has been Neil and me, with a little help on a contract basis for some preaching and teaching in English and Mandarin.

There are various reasons for our having a smaller team lately, and it hasn’t been a terrible thing in a season where the budget has been especially tight. But I think we’re all conscious that it has an impact on our capacity to serve. As I’ve said often, the church isn’t defined by its professional staff. (In my personal experience and opinion, churches that are heavily staff-driven are rarely healthy for very long.) Nevertheless, the right team of pastoral leadership staff can be a huge help in growing our ministries and fulfilling our mission. So adding at least 1 more team member has always been on the planning radar.

I raised this issue directly with Council about a year ago, and we’ve had excellent discussions since then. There is agreement both on the need to augment our leadership team and on the direction we should go. The question we’ve all wrestled with has been one of timing. Over the past few months, there has been a growing sense that it’s now time to begin taking practical steps on this matter.  Now, please don’t panic! This isn’t an announcement about an imminent hire. But we’ve started the ball rolling, and want you all to be in the communication loop early on.

For today, I have 3 comments:  on philosophy, target, and current status.

(1) Philosophy. This is really a matter of Pastor Ken’s philosophy as we move into this project. What kinds of principles guide me when I look for another pastoral staff member? I’m concerned about:

  • Quality: we want pastoral staff who are skilled and competent, who will be effective leaders, who embody and model integrity and excellence in character, and—of course! - who have a deep and mature faith and love for our Lord.
  • Fit: we want and need pastoral leaders who are the right fit for our congregation, our north shore community and its culture, our mission and philosophy of ministry, and our overall ministry team. There are lots of good people out there who aren’t right for us.
  • Longevity: as much as possible, we need leaders who will put down roots and serve among us for a longer rather than a shorter time. Over the years, research has consistently shown that a pastor starts to be really effective about 5 years into their ministry in a church. By contrast, constant transition from one pastor or associate pastor to another tends to make our ministry unstable: it builds up then breaks down, then builds up then breaks down. Our own experience as a church is consistent with this. If we really want to be healthy and to grow well in the coming years, we need a team that isn’t constantly changing at the core. This means it should be a high priority to find additional team members who (apart from unexpected things outside our control) will be around for a while.

Some implications flow out of this philosophy.  (a) My priority is to find a career pastor who feels called to serve the church over the long term, not to fill slots with individuals who will come and go. (We can always add interns and part-time supplemental staff along the way, but first we need to build a solid long-term core of people with strong pastoral training and skills.) (b) If possible, it’s desirable to hire a full-time person. Part-time pastors tend to be short-term pastors, because no one can live on a part-time pastor’s salary. (c) Related, I’m only interested in someone whose intention is to be with us for a while. (d) Since finding the right person is crucial, it's better to take a little extra time to be picky and really certain that we’ve found the right person than to move too quickly and risk choosing the wrong one. And (e) though technically the hiring of associate pastors is my job, according to our policy materials, I think it’s important to have lots of advice and consultation, and want to work with a search committee to bring more pooled wisdom to the project.

(2) Target – or, “what we’re looking for.” What I’ve proposed to Council, and what we’ve agreed to pursue for our next pastoral hire, is an Associate Pastor for Education and Discipleship - one who is bilingual and bicultural, to meet the immediate needs in our multi-cultural congregation.

  • This is not a program-specific pastor, hired to lead one specific ministry like children’s ministry or youth or Mandarin ministry. It’s a more general role that will help with pastoral leadership across the board in the church. It will have a special focus on ministry areas that provide education and discipleship. So, for example, this person will support and assist as necessary with our kids and youth ministries. But this role is not limited to 1 area, and it’s not designed to make participation and leadership by our members unnecessary. It should do what pastoral leaders are supposed to do according to Ephesians 4: it should equip and support and empower our church members for ministry.
  • While this is not a “Mandarin pastor” position, we do need to have a member of the pastoral team who is fluent in Mandarin and able to engage our Mandarin-speaking community more directly in that language. So, we’re looking for an Associate Pastor with that capacity. Much of our current Mandarin ministry is focused on education and discipleship, meaning this is a natural fit. I anticipate that probably about half of this person’s time will go into Mandarin-language ministry. At the same time, this role is designed to help advance our stated mission to be one intercultural church body.
  • What I have proposed to Council is a full-time position. This depends on the church’s financial capacity, and it represents a step of faith. Whether we can manage it, and what happens if we can’t, are still under discussion.

If we’re able to fill this role, it will help to cover some of the gaps that I cannot currently fill in my weekly activity, and it will position us to move ahead in some strategic areas. I’m really excited about the possibilities!

(3) Current status—where are things at right now?

  • Our goal is to identify and onboard this person as early as possible in 2026. (This means the role doesn’t impact our 2025 budget, but it isn’t put off too far either.)
  • We already have Council approval to go ahead with this search and hire, so long as it can be supported financially.
  • We have established a Search Committee and have begun to meet over the past couple of months. (The group includes Esther Chu, Amber Zhao, Sandra Sharma, Ken Davis, and me. Thanks to these four folks for their wisdom and work on the project.)
  • We have approved a job description for the position.
  • We have begun some early consideration of possible candidate(s). (No, sorry, I can’t disclose names or share specifics at this point, though I welcome conversations and suggestions.)
  • The next main issue before us is to confirm financial feasibility and to approve a firm price tag for the role (with implications for whether it’s full-time, etc.). We hope to land this item soon.
  • After that, the search process will become more formal and we’ll engage more directly with the relevant candidate(s).

Whew! That’s a lot of information. I hope it’s helpful, and I also hope it’s an encouragement for you all. Our church’s leadership are very conscious of this need, and they’ve been working to lay foundations for addressing it.  Thanks to everyone who has given input so far.  I’ll do my best to keep you updated as we go.  Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have questions, and to make suggestions and offer comments as they come to mind. 

And, of course, please be in prayer about this whole process. We need God to guide and to provide if this is to bear good fruit. Pray for me and for our Search Committee, for Council and the folks on the Finance Committee, for our staff, and especially for the person God has been preparing to join us in this capacity. May we have wisdom, clear leading, unity, and wide-open doors for this strategic project and for all that lies beyond it.

That’s my main news for now. Have a great week, and we’ll see you soon. God bless you richly.

- Pastor Ken