In February of 2023 Messiah Lutheran Church called Pastor Kristine Schroeder to lead this faith community into its future. That call process, along with the difficulty in filling a Youth and Education Director position, revealed a strong desire in Messiah’s congregation to call a second rostered staff member (Deacon or Ordained Pastor) to lead MLC’s Faith Formation Ministries,
In June of 2023 a Faith Formation Call Task Force was formed to explore the implications of this possible second call. The task force set to work on updating Messiah’s Ministry Site Profile, surveying and listening to the congregation’s input, and drafting a job description. As their work concluded at the end of 2023, nominations for a Call Committee were put out to the congregation and on January 28, 2024 the Call Committee for a Second Rostered Staff was installed.
Messiah’s Call Committee follows the instructions provided by the Southeastern Synod’s guidelines for calling a rostered minister. On May 13, 2024, MLC’s Ministry Site Profile and Pastor/Deacon of Faith Formation Position Description was approved by the Bishop of the Southeastern Synod. On June 18, 2024, the two documents went live on the ELCA’s website for rostered ELCA pastors and deacons desiring new calls.
Interested rostered pastors and deacons must first contact Pastor Jonathan Hemphill, Assistant to the Bishop for Congregational Life. He can be reached at (404) 589-1970 and jhemphill@elca-ses.org