The Big Church Vote

Today, at 12:15, my local church will have a special business meeting to vote on the candidate for senior pastor. This is a big deal day, a historic moment. The former senior pastor served for over seventeen years, so at our place this day doesn't come very often. I am excited to watch this all transpire and to participate in the vote. Then we will wait for the votes to be counted and gather again at 5:00pm to hear the outcome.

All sorts of thoughts and images run through my mind. The white smoke so significant to church leadership for my Catholic friends...

Credit: http://galleryhip.com/white-smoke-pope.html

And a more light-hearted moment from the entertainment world, the Final Rose Ceremony...final candidate, will you accept this rose?

Credit: http://www.chiangraibulletin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/the-bachelor.jpg

This is a big deal to me, to be a part of selecting the next top leader where I'm involved in a community church. "Under the influence" can have a negative connotation, but in this case our congregation will be "under the influence" of this next senior pastor for many years. So this is a serious and exciting day. The culmination of many, many months of the search.

So much work has gone into selecting a final candidate. I will not go into that here. The way a church like ours gets from the point of realizing a search for senior pastor will begin to the congregational vote to approved the selected candidate. Take it from me, it is tricky, intense, informative, and takes many people over many hours. I am the spouse of one of the Search Team Committee members. By way of simply sharing our evenings, I overheard many sample sermons from other applicants, so I have some insight into the diligence of this committee.

Today is the day. The members of our congregation will vote. If a strong percentage votes yes, a new day and a big celebration and a whole lot of relief will launch for many of us. Today, in my faith group, we wait and watch for a tangible work of the Holy Spirit in working in and guiding us all to vote accordingly. That sounds a little mysterious. Unity in a diverse group often is.