Minister Search Survey
The Search Process begins not by searching but by listening. Listening to God (for guidance). Listening to the leadership team (for direction). Listening to our community (for needs). Listening to those around us who are ministering effectively (for ideas). And listening to the Church at 1548 (for understanding). One way to listen to our congregation is to survey individual members. Starting January 21 (and for the next fifteen days--through February 4), we will be listening to you and gathering information that will help us in our search for a new pulpit minister.
Here are a few facts for you to consider:
1. The survey will be offered online--the most efficient and confidential way to collect your responses and report the results.
2. We need the participation of everyone who regularly attends 1548 Heights--your input is essential to accurately reflect our congregation’s needs and desires. (Thus, only one survey per person.)
3. If you have internet access (we'll supply the link via email), you can take the survey in the privacy of your home. If not, we will make laptops available to you at the building. If you need help, members of the Search Committee will be available to assist you.
4. If you absolutely cannot take the survey online, we can make paper/pencil surveys available and then transfer your responses to the database. Please speak to Ann Bayliss or John Watson to make arrangements.
5. Set aside 30-45 minutes to respond to the survey. You need to complete the entire survey in one sitting--otherwise, your responses will not be saved and you'll have to start over.
The survey will cover four areas:
1. Demographics (like gender, age, race, length of time at 1548 Heights, etc.). We want to capture a snapshot of the Church at 1548 Heights at this point in time.
2. Personal Spiritual Health (e.g., how often do you read the Bible? How involved are you in a ministry?) This will provide information for pastoral and ministerial support in the future.
3. Congregational Spiritual Health (e.g., How well do you understand the church’s mission and vision? How involved is 1548 with the community?). This information will help us assess areas of strengths and weaknesses in our church.
4. Minister Preferences (e.g., Which is more important to you in a minister: inspiring sermons or community involvement?). This will help us understand congregational priorities as we look for a new minister.
Please be in prayer about the search process and our new minister, and look for the survey link in your email on January 21 to ensure your voice is heard.
Search Team Leadership and Committees
Leadership Roles
Chair Person - Justin Duncum
Tech Chair - Erick Leon
Prayer Chair - Rhonda Burkhalter
Communications Chair - Melissa Zinsitz
Secretary - Brooke Duncum
Ad-Hoc Committees
Community Assessment - Alf Tichler and Rhonda Ryan
Congregational Assessment - John Watson and Ann Bayliss
Kingdom Assessment - Teresa Cramer and Kim Greer
History Assessment - Alan Cramer and Kim Martinez
The minister search is a multi-step process, and each person on the search team has taken a specific role so the right person will be led to our congregation.
Some of the roles are self-explanatory. Justin Duncum is the team’s chair person. Erick Leon is the technology coordinator, Brooke Duncum is the secretary, and Melissa Zinsitz is in charge of communications. Rhonda Burkhalter fills the prayer chair, keeping the team spiritually aligned with daily prayers. She also is coordinating efforts to involve each member in prayer for the minister search.
The team also has formed four committees to compile information that will be used to introduce our congregation and community to prospective candidates.
Alf Tichler and Rhonda Ryan are conducting a Community Assessment and are talking to community leaders and organizations to identify the needs, problems, and opportunities of our community.
Teresa Cramer and Kim Greer are doing a Kingdom Assessment to learn how God is at work around us. They’re contacting congregations that are making significant contributions to the kingdom and our area.
John Watson and Ann Bayliss are composing a Congregational Assessment to gather information about our church’s identity, our makeup and our overall health. It will be crucial that everyone takes the survey so each voice is heard and we have an accurate picture of the body at 1548. Everyone will be given more details before the survey is launched on January 21.
Finally, Alan Cramer and Kim Martinez are not on the search team, but they are heavily involved in plans for our church’s 100-year celebration, so they are composing a brief history to look at our church’s foundation and how that informs who we are today.
All of these materials will be compiled for our use and given to prospective candidates so they can gain a sense of our community and our mission. If you’d like more details about the search process, just ask any of us and we’ll tell you more.
Welcome Dr. David Fleer
We are starting a new chapter in the life of the Church at 1548 Heights. We welcome our interim Lead Minister Dr. David Fleer.
David and his wife Mae live in Franklin Tennessee and have been married 44 years. David has served as Professor of Bible and Communication, Special Assistant to the President at Lipscomb University and Executive Director of the Thomas H. Olbricht Christian Scholars’ Conference. He has also taught in the Doctorate of Ministry program at Abilene Christian University and has led Lipscomb’s Preaching Workshop for several years.
David’s formal education includes an BA in Education from Washington State University (1976), an MDiv from ACU (1981), the DMin from Fuller Seminary (1987), an MS in Communication from Portland State University (1991), and the PhD in Communication from the University of Washington (1995). He has also written and edited books and journals extensively.
The focus of David’s teaching has been homiletics (which is the art of preaching). David has also served for many years as a Senior Minister and now helps churches with interim transitions by filling in as the Interim Preaching Minister and serving on the search committee.
The leadership team believes the Lord has led David to us and us to David and that he will help us find the right person to take the Lead Minister role going forward.
Minister Search Team
We are thrilled that David Fleer is finally joining us as our interim minister. Not only will he bring continuity to our worship, but he will provide much-needed expertise in our minister search. When we first met David over a month ago, we recognized how little we knew about the search process. It is not a matter of resumes and references but a seeking after God to discern who He is calling to minister at 1548. As David described the work to be done, we realized how short-sighted we had been to assemble a four-member search team. We knew that we would need more hands and a broader range of talents.
We won’t begin with a candidate search but with a look at ourselves and our church. What are our values and priorities and where do we see God moving? We want to share our story clearly because we want a minister who can fall in love with our vision. Once we have a group of candidates, we’ll build relationships – taking time to get to know people, listen to sermons, read their writings, and have significant conversations. Through a lot of prayerful listening, we will, in the end, recommend the candidate we all agree is the one God has provided. For all the work to be done, the stewards are pleased to announce that the following members have committed to serve on the search team:
Rhonda Burkhalter,
John Watson,
Kim Greer,
Alf Tischler,
Brooke Duncum,
Wade Harlan,
Rhonda Ryan,
Erick Leon,
Ann Bayliss,
Justin Duncum,
Teresa Cramer,
Melissa Zinsitz
We are excited about the possibilities ahead and ask for your prayerful support as we seek God’s lead in the coming months.
Transition Consultant: Dr. David Fleer
The leadership team wants you all to know we have completed our search for a transition consultant and we have engaged Dr. David Fleer.
So what does that statement actually mean? So in simple terms Dr. Fleer has been engaged to help us in THREE primary ways:
1. Participate in our Search Team
2. Provide Worship Continuity
3. Help our church and our Leadership continue our season of discernment and flourishing
You will all meet Dr. Fleer very soon. We are looking at dates in September for him to make his first visit. We also want to emphasize that Dr. Fleer will be our primary interim pulpit minister after Matt and Angela move. He will also meet weekly with both the Leadership Team, the Search Committee and the membership here at 1548 Heights. As for his qualifications and biography I can tell you that he is uniquely qualified to help us in all three areas. He is well known (both Ann and Matt can give some testimony) and he must be smart since he actually taught Matt at ACU. We are going to enjoy his time here.
As I said a few weeks ago it is easy during seasons of change to choose to like Eeyore, full of despair and gloom or we can choose to be Winnie the Pooh and chase the Bees and which lead us to the Honey. Dr. Fleers hiring is just the first Bee in that journey.
Minister Search Team Created
The Stewards have nominated four members and, after much prayer and thought, they have agreed to serve as a search committee to assist the stewards and the congregation in selecting our next lead minister.
The members of the search committee are Erick Leon, Justin Duncum, Melissa Zinsitz, and Teresa Cramer.
Meanwhile, we will work with an organization who specializes in placing an interim minister to preach during the transition period. We will communicate more information to the congregation as we progress through this process.
The Stewards encourage us all to pray earnestly for our success in selecting the best candidate that will lead our efforts to change lives for God in our community and in the world as God transforms us into the image of Jesus.
Our Commitment to the Church
Matthew’s last Sunday as Lead Minister of our church will be October 22. He and his wife are relocating to Seattle to be closer to their grandchildren. We thank Matthew for his many years of dedication preaching and leadership at the church, and Angela for her wisdom and support! Congratulations and many blessings in this new season.
The Stewards are committed to finding a new lead minister and ensuring that in the interim period we will have a reliable, consistent presence in the pulpit. This blog will provide updates on the lead minister search and interim preacher selection.
This is a time of change and opportunity for The Church at 1548 Heights. We believe it will be a time of growth for us as individuals, leaders, congregants, and followers of Christ. Join us as we prayerfully seek the guidance of the Spirit during this transition.