After careful and prayerful discernment, we recommended to the Congregational Council our candidate to call to lead St. Andrew as our new Senior Pastor. This has been a thorough Call Process and we are so grateful for the guidance of the Holy Spirit throughout this sacred process. As you will note in the Council's report in this SonTimes, the Council affirmed our recommendation and we are currently planning a congregational meeting to extend this Call on January 15.

Our Call process began on February 23, 2011. From that date, we had 32 formal meetings, with innumerable informal connections via e-mail, phone, and casual conversations. We had a very dedicated group, with amazingly few absences, even during the summer. Our first task was the completion of a Ministry Site Profile, a comprehensive dissertation on what we were looking for in a Senior Pastor. We submitted the final profile to the Minneapolis Area Synod, ELCA, on June 7. We received the names of 23 potential candidates from the synod and the congregation for our consideration. We had extensive discussions with the synod bishop regarding the candidates' qualifications and fit, and conducted in-depth first interviews with ten of the candidates.

After interviews and prayerful discussions, we narrowed the list to the final two candidates at the beginning of October. We then conducted formal interviews with references provided by the candidates, attended worship services at their churches, and evaluated other available resources such as online sermons. We again discussed our assessments of the candidates with the bishop and considered his impressions as well. On November 22, we completed our interviews and assessments of the candidates, and met to vote on our recommendation for the Call. With the Spirit's guidance, we were unanimous on our recommendation and, as our Committee Secretary captured the moment: "There was a moment of awe and praise for the work of the Holy Spirit."

As of this writing, there are still some steps yet to be completed, such as a background check required by the synod for final candidates, and completion of the formal Letter of Call documents. Accordingly, some details may not be available until the special congregational meeting on January 15, but we are grateful for the Spirit's guidance, for the congregation's patience during this extended process, and for all of the candidates' participation and assistance throughout our discernment. We are excited about the candidate we have chosen and look forward to introducing him on January 15. We are confident that he is God's chosen leader for St. Andrew for years to come.

While this report may sound like little has changed since our last communication, rest assured, we have been busy in the work of our calling. We have continued with interviews and are closer to concluding that process. We have had ongoing updates with the Council and synod staff, including Interim Bishop Nycklemoe. We understand your interest in our progress and will include everyone in the resulting decisions as soon as we can. You should be aware that once the Call Committee has reached a decision on a candidate, before the selection can be presented to the Council and Congregation, required evaluations must be performed by the synod staff. This process can take weeks.

Although this may seem like a time of uncertainty, because of the Call process, we feel very assured that with the ongoing programs, initiatives and decisions being made at St. Andrew, we are in very good hands. In the same way we feel God’s presence and guidance with us in our work, we know He is also guiding the staff and lay leaders who do an inspired and remarkable job on behalf of the congregation. With God’s presence, it is that knowledge of support and sense of well being for our St. Andrew Family that comforts and assures us through this process.

Thank you again for your continued prayers and support.

Fall is now upon us and, as we continue with our interview process, we would like to express our sincere appreciation for your prayers and support. They have been needed and they have indeed been felt…by all on the committee.

As our work has evolved, each of us has come to better appreciate the importance of the role you have entrusted us with. We thought it might be helpful, for your perspective, to again communicate the steps in the process, thus far, where we have invested our time:

1. Ministry Site Profile (MSP) — Creation of the document defining who we are as a congregation and what we are looking for in a candidate. Document passed along to the Synod, through which all candidates are processed.
2. Identifying Candidates — Compiling the list of candidates with help from, and reviewed by, the synod.
3. Scheduling Interviews — Coordinating dates around work and summer vacation schedules for all candidates (as well as committee members).
4. Preparing Interview Questions — Based on the MSP and designed to generate open discussion and responses specific to SAL needs.
5. Conducting Interviews — Taking full advantage of the opportunity to get to know the candidates and determine if they would be asked back for a second meeting.

The Minneapolis Area Synod staff has been very supportive along the way, expressing their pleasure with the thoroughness of our efforts and (even a little surprised with) our progress to date.

To our St. Andrew family, thank you for your questions, comments and support. Most of all, thank you for your prayers…for us, as well as our candidates.

We would first like to thank you for all your support! Over the summer, we have heard from many of you in conversations after church services, waiting to pick up kids from VCS or Camp, the ball field and around our community. Your interest, support and prayers have been heartfelt and inspiring. We want you to know that, given the challenge of the call we are engaged in, it is very much appreciated.

Having evaluated the candidate profiles and identified candidates to interview, we set about the task of scheduling those individuals. We were pleased that all candidates were available for first interview dates and we have now begun that process. We will update you on our progress when these interviews are completed.

As indicated in our last update, you may visit the St. Andrew web site to view the Ministry Site Profile and other Call Committee Updates. Questions or comments can be submitted confidentially via e-mail at . Your continued prayers and support are greatly appreciated.

Prayer request: Pray for God's shepherding guidance as the Call Committee begins the interview process. Pray that God will guide us in our evaluation and guide the right Senior Pastor candidate to St. Andrew.

Summer Arrives…the Call Process Continues

The Call Committee has completed a major milestone in the Call Process — submission of a Ministry Site Profile to the synod office. The Profile is a comprehensive, 14–page template created by the synod, which we complete to describe our church and our community, and to define the type of Senior Pastor we are seeking. It is a very in-depth "want ad" which can be viewed by potential candidates as they discern how the Holy Spirit guides them. We will be posting a copy of the Profile on the Church’s website and we will have a few reference copies in the Narthex of both church locations for review.

We've been able to achieve this milestone thanks to good feedback from the congregation, valuable insights from Bishop Craig Johnson and Interim Coach Pastor Dennis Johnson, and thoughtful, prayerful discernment by the Call Committee. The Call Committee completed and recommended the Profile to the Congregation Council. The Council thoroughly reviewed the document, made valuable improvements, and approved the Profile for submission to the Synod.

The Synod will now review all of the information in the Profile, and will evaluate and contact potential candidates. Congregation members may also recommend candidates to the Call Committee (see contact information at the end of this article). The Committee will forward qualified names to the Synod for evaluation as well.

The time required for the Synod’s evaluation is hard to estimate due to the number of variables involved. Certainly, a potential candidate’s discernment process can take considerable time. But even simple logistics can take time — for example, our Bishop must contact the Bishop of another Synod to get permission to even contact candidates who are now outside our Synod.

The Synod will then submit qualified candidate names to the Call Committee for evaluation and consideration. The Call Committee will hold interviews with selected candidates and may also visit the candidates to hear them preach.

Throughout this process, all candidate names must be kept confidential in fairness to the candidates. Therefore, in future updates, we will only indicate if we have begun candidate interviews.

After prayerful consideration and deliberation, the Call Committee will recommend a candidate to the Congregation Council. Upon Council approval, the Council will call a congregational meeting where a 2/3 vote will be required to issue the Call. With an affirmative vote, a letter of call is sent to the candidate, and he/she has 30 days to accept or return the letter of call. If the call is accepted, plans are made for transition and installation, which can take two to three months.

All members of the Call Committee feel an incredible sense of responsibility with the task of calling our next Senior Pastor. We accept the responsibility humbly and recognize that a decision this large is not made by us, the Council, the Synod, or even the congregation alone. It is through prayer and with God's guidance that we will move through this process. We ask that everyone continue to pray that God places the right candidate for St. Andrew before us, and that He will give our hearts the wisdom to know.

We appreciate the tremendous support and feedback that we have received from the Congregation and welcome continued comments by e-mailing

In June, Call Committee announced the completion and submission of the Ministry Site Profile, a major milestone in the Call Process. Since then, they have had two meetings with Bishop Craig Johnson during which he presented candidate papers for the Call Committee's review. The Call Committee is in the process of evaluating candidate profiles and identifying candidates to interview.

As you may be aware, Bishop Craig Johnson has accepted an Interim Ministry at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church. Effective August 1, 2011, Bishop Johnson will be succeeded by Interim Bishop Glenn Nycklemoe, who will oversee St. Andrew's Call Process. This transition will not impact the St. Andrew call process and the Call Committee's work continues with full support of the Synod.

Please visit the St. Andrew website to view the Ministry Site Profile and other Call Committee updates. Questions or comments can be submitted confidentially via email to . Our next update will be published in the next Son Times newsletter which will be delivered in late August. Your continued prayers and support are greatly appreciated.

Prayer request: Pray for God's shepherding guidance as the Call Committee evaluates and interviews candidates. Pray that God will guide the right person to St. Andrew.

Call Committee: Dru Jorgensen, Rick Lund (Chair), Carl Nelson, Leah Plath, Brian Shimley, Kris Stromsness (Secretary), Craig Zinter, and Andrea Spears (vice president of the Congregational Council, named as non–voting member of the Committee and Council Liaison).

The Committee has met four times, including with Bishop Craig Johnson, who will be providing guidance for the call process. The Committee's first job is to prepare a Ministry Site Profile, a comprehensive 14–page document used by the Synod for call committees. The document's purpose is to describe St. Andrew and the type of senior pastor we are seeking. It is ultimately turned into the Synod and viewed by potential candidates. The best way to describe it is a very in-depth "want ad". The Committee will soon be seeking feedback from the Congregation, through worship inserts and e–mail that will be set up for the Call Committee. Look for future communication on this.

After the Ministry Site Profile has been completed, the assessment of potential candidates will begin and at that time the Congregation will be specifically asked if they have any names of candidates to be considered.

The Committee is very open to input from the Congregation and asks only that Congregation members understand that the Call process is sacred work, carefully guided by the Holy Spirit, and often requiring the strictest confidentiality. We also ask everyone to continue to pray that God places the right candidate for St. Andrew before us and that He will give us the wisdom to know.