Does this puzzle piece fit?

Dear LTCC Family,

The coming week will be an eventful one at our church. And I choose the word “eventful” very deliberately, because this week is quite literally full of events. This Friday to Saturday, the 19th and 20th, our youth and young adults will be going on their overnight retreat. That same Saturday, the ladies are meeting for breakfast. And on Wednesday the 24th, children’s ministry will be having their end of the year celebration. I always find it encouraging when I look at the calendar and see so many of these events. It is truly a blessing that our church can provide people of all ages with opportunities for fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

But there is one particular event (or series of events) that I would like to draw your attention to. This weekend, Pastor Bob Slack and his wife Ronda will be visiting our church. If you have been following these weekly check-in emails and the announcements that we have given in church, you will know that LTCC has been engaging with an organization called Interim Pastor Ministries (IPM), with the goal of getting an Interim Pastor in place until we are ready to call a new Senior Pastor. About a month ago, IPM recommended to us a man named Bob Slack. Over the last few weeks, our Elders and Deacons have met with Bob and done our due diligence in listening to his sermons online and checking references from churches he has served at in the past. 

Pastor Bob's resume is impressive. He served as Senior Pastor at his last church for 23 years. Prior to that he served as Associate Pastor at two churches for 11 years and 8 years respectively. People who have worked with Bob have told us that he is a great teacher of God's word and that he is very friendly and welcoming to everyone. Our own conversations with him have left us with the same impression. On paper, Bob seems like the perfect candidate to serve as our Interim Pastor. But God doesn't build his church on paper. I like to think that God puts the church together like a jigsaw puzzle. Every piece has it's place, and God brings those pieces together in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. I don't think there's any question that IPM has found us a really good puzzle piece in Bob Slack. But how do we know if this good piece is the right piece for the puzzle that God's putting together at LTCC? Well, the easiest way is to fly that piece up here, plug it into the hole we've got in our puzzle, and see how well he fits. 

The purpose of this weekend is to see how Bob interacts with our congregation and how our congregation interacts with him. We want to see if he's a good fit for LTCC. We hope that you'll take some time this weekend to engage with Bob and Ronda and provide us with any feedback you might have. There will be several opportunities to get to know Bob. First, he will be preaching at our normal Sunday morning church service. Following the service, we will have a good old-fashioned potluck. At the potluck, Bob will tell us a little bit about himself and also share details about IPM's intentional interim process. There will also be a Q&A session. Finally, on Monday morning, Bob and Ronda will be available for coffee at church with anyone who wants to meet with them further (please register here so we can be prepared).

If you would like to listen to a few of Bob’s sermons in advance of his visit, his old church Ridgeview Hope Church maintains an online library of their past messages. Pastor Bob retired from full time ministry at RHC in October of 2022, so you’ll have to scroll back a bit or use the filters to find the messages he preached, but I think they’re well worth your time.

If you have any questions about Bob or about IPM’s intentional interim process, feel free to reach out to any of our Elders or Deacons. Or better yet, ask Bob when he’s here this weekend. If you'd prefer to ask questions or give comments electronically, you can do so here until 5/24.  We thank you in advance for your participation in this process.

On behalf of the Elders and Deacons,

Daniel Geske

Treasurer

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Daniel Geske