Updates from the Call Committee (1-30-23)

The Call Committee has been hard at work since August 9th , 2022 when it held its initial meeting. Since that time, there have been several meetings among the committee, as well as some involving the OK District President and/or the Circuit Visitor for our area of the LCMS Oklahoma District. The committee initially received the submission of 13 names from various members of our congregation, including committee members. Those names were submitted to the District President’s office for his review, at which time 5 of the names were removed from consideration by him or other District Presidents for various undisclosed reasons and 2 new names were added to the list by the District President. From that list of 9 candidates, the committee ultimately selected 5 it initially felt would be best possible fits and determined to request interviews with these candidates. From those 5, 4 subsequently requested to be removed from the call consideration for various personal or ministry reasons, leaving one single candidate for consideration. This pastor was interviewed by the committee, but there was not a unanimous recommendation to move forward with him at this point. He does, however, remain a candidate for consideration by the committee in the future.

During January, as the committee prepared to interview candidates, it was learned that OSL had received a solid offer for the Tulsa campus location and would be voting on whether to accept it on 1/29/23. This information, along with an update on the reduced candidate list, was discussed with both the District President and the Circuit Visitor and it was agreed that given the acceleration in the timeline of the relocation of OSL to the Ablaze campus and the significant amount of time and attention that will be required for that process over the next 4-6 months (planning, moving, relocating, adjusting) and given the single candidate remaining for consideration, it would be wise to suspend the call process for the present time to let things settle out once the relocation is made.

The committee ultimately voted unanimously to suspend the call process until the end of summer and then to re-evaluate the situation and the specific needs at that time. The committee remains intact and ready to proceed forward with a new list of candidates to consider at the point in time the congregation and its leaders believe is the right time to re-engage in the call process.

It has been our honor to serve the congregation in this process to this point and we look forward to what God has in store for our unified church in the future.

Updates from the Call Committee (1-1-23)

The Call Committee met in mid-December to review the list of potential candidates as provided by the congregation and the District President’s office.  From this list of 8 potential candidates, 5 men were selected to request personal interviews with in hopes of identifying the man God has ordained to be recommended to the congregation to vote in the affirmative to issue a Call to be the Associate Pastor of OSL with the primary responsibility of ministering at the Ablaze campus to Ablaze Church and Ablaze Christian Academy.  The Call Committee Chairman will be contacting the 5 candidates over the next week or two to arrange times for interviews with the Call Committee, if they are open to entertaining a possible Call.  The goal would be to have the interviews completed by the end of January and then bring the candidate names and information before the congregation for a vote to issue a Call to one of the candidates by the end of February.  There are a few required steps governed by the OSL bylaws and the OK LCMS District regarding a Call process which will require 2-3 weeks to complete once the Call Committee makes its final decision for a recommendation to the congregation.  We ask that you continue to pray for God’s direction for the Call Committee, for the Holy Spirit to be working in the heart and mind of the man God has already chosen to receive the Call, and for the staff and lay leadership of OSL/Ablaze as it works together and adjusts to a new territory going forward.

Updates from the Call Committee (9-26-22)

To date, the Call Committee has met 3 times. The required Congregational Self-Study has been submitted to the Oklahoma District President of the LCMS for his review and use in how he provides assistance to the congregation throughout this process. The period for submission of candidate names from the congregation to the Call Committee has closed as of 9-25-22. To these names, the Call Committee has also generated a list of names for consideration and the District President can also add (or remove) names for consideration upon his review of the Candidate List, which will be submitted to him later this week for his review.

The District President has requested a personal, on-site visit by himself and the Circuit Visitor for our area in order to view the campuses and meet with the pastors and lay leaders of the church to better inform them on the future plans and mission of the church so that they might be in the best position to assist the church in calling the best candidate to successfully carry out those plans and mission. Presently, that visit is scheduled for October 4 th . Afterwards, the Call Committee will await the return of the Candidate List from the District President before proceeding to the next step which is selecting which candidates to pursue “in-person” (Zoom) interviews. That process is likely to take 2-3 weeks, depending on the number of interviews to be held and when they can be scheduled. Anticipation is that this process will be complete at some point in November.

After the conclusion of all interviews, the Call Committee will meet in person to discuss the various candidates, spend time in prayer as a group, and determine if the group believes it is led to recommend a candidate to the congregation for purposes of voting to issue a call to them for the position of Associate Pastor. To be respectful to all involved and to not add additional time commitments during the month of December and the Advent Season, if this process cannot be completed by the end of November, the Call Committee will wait until January to schedule a meeting for voting on a call.

Please continue to lift up the Call Committee in prayer asking for discernment of God’s leading in this process, the future associate pastor of our church for the Spirit to be moving in his heart and mind preparing him for the call to come, and for the members of our church for commitment to the mission before us and support of the man God had selected to help lead us forward on that mission.

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