The next, essential step is selecting a Transition Team: Neither I nor anyone else has a monopoly on discerning how the Spirit would have us go. The twelve (12) members of the Transition Team will be prayerfully selected. These twelve people need to be representative of the diversity within St. John’s and deeply committed to listening to God. These individuals need to be people of prayer who evidence their relationship to God in word and deed. They need to be people of trust and confidentiality. As we prayerfully select this team, the process makes clear that this is an important ministry in which we all share. 

What we are trusting the Transition Team to do: Working with the pastors, Congregation Council, synod staff, and other resources the Transition Team and the interim pastor will work together to develop and engage processes of transition designed to help St. John’s heal and reorient toward a healthy new vision and pastoral relationship. The processes will address the five focus points of interim ministry developed by the Center for Congregational Health: 

• + Heritage: Reviewing how the congregation has been shaped and formed 
• + Leadership: Reviewing the membership needs and its ways of organizing and developing new and effective leadership 
• + Mission: defining and redefining the sense of purpose and direction 
• + Connections: discovering all the relationship a faith community builds outside of it self 
• + Future: Developing congregational and pastoral profiles with the synod’s guidance 

Your help is key to selecting the Transition Team: It is essential for our movement toward wholeness that this team is representative of St. John’s congregation. We humbly request each member of St. John’s to prayerfully consider who you believe God might be leading to serve on this team. Therefore, we ask you to do the following: 

• + Prayerfully look around and reflect on members of St. John’s Lutheran Church. 
• + Review the qualities listed in the next section. 
• + Identify 4 people whom you believe God might be calling to this ministry. 
• + Pray for those individuals for one week. 
• + Share your names directly with Pastor Greg either by mail, email or phone to the church office. Alternately you may write those names on a slip of paper and place in an offering box when you come for worship no later than Sunday, November 13. 

Qualities to consider for the Transition Team: As you ponder and pray about your list of 4 members whom you believe are called to serve on the Transition Team, here is a list of qualities that I ask you to keep in mind as you prayerfully discern those 4 names: 

• + Trusted within the congregation 
• + Respected 
• + Persons of prayer 
• + Spiritually wise 
• + Faithful participation in worship 
• + Faithful contributor 
• + Able to speak for representative groups within the congregation 
• + Willingness to listen to all perspectives 

Selection of the Transition Team: After receiving all the names suggested by the congregation, I will tabulate the suggestions with those named the most at the top of the list. With my fellow pastors, we will prayerfully consider the best make-up of the team based on your recommendations and consideration of diverse representation. We will not choose couples together. No one on staff or their spouse will be selected. I will then contact those identified asking if they are willing to consider and accept this call to serve. Once 12 members are selected, we will announce them and commission them during a worship service.