How We Make Decisions

This Sunday, we will be considering Craig Rigney as a candidate for the worship pastor position. It’s a big decision for our church family, so I want to make clear how we do this.

First: This is a decision for church MEMBERS. Those are people who have acted to unite and align with our church family. We have a large number of people who attend regularly, but they have never taken that step of commitment. If you haven’t done that, this is not a decision for you to make. We want you to worship with us and enjoy connecting with our candidate, but when it’s time to vote, that will not be your role if you haven’t united with our church.

Second: All pastoral staff are hired by the church family based on a family decision. Our personnel team is charged with searching and finding candidates to recommend. They don’t make that final decision. The church family does. They have worked very hard for the last three years to consider hundreds of possible candidates. We have received material from multiple countries and dozens of states and reviewed it in light of our needs. Craig is the best candidate we have seen, and we have reviewed a great deal of music and seen him lead personally. We are confident in his heart, gifts, and intentions, but at the end of this process, we entrust the final decision to the church family in light of their interactions, experiences of worship with him, and prayer life.

So, this Sunday, all of the members on campus that day will be able to express their beliefs about hiring Craig. Please pray about this decision and be ready to vote your heart on the matter. Our team has enjoyed a consistent level of trust through the years. Most votes are nearly unanimous. But our last vote was not–for good reason. We trust the church family just as the church family trusts us. I believe it will be a great weekend, and if you experience what our personnel team experienced, you will forget about voting and just relax and worship. That’s our hope and prayer for the weekend, for the decision-making process, and the outcome at the end of the weekend.

Join us in praying in like manner!