The results are in...

Stefan's sermon went well on Sunday, but the big story of the day was the vote. Out of 57 members, 5 are no longer attending, leaving 52 to vote. All 52 brought or sent in their ballots and the outcome was a unanimous "JA"! We are so grateful for a unanimous vote! The really wonderful thing is that this church has historically had real problems agreeing on several important issues, so while a unanimous vote was very encouraging for Stefan, it was also immensely encouraging to the congregants themselves! Hooray! Such a big answer to prayer!

The next step will be a church meeting on Dec 16 to talk plainly about finances and responsibilities. Please pray for understanding and unity. A lot of people have never had a pastor before, or have different traditions and expectations, so while this can be great in terms of diversity, it can also create additional hurdles to overcome. Overall, people are pretty aware of these things, as well as the fact that Stefan is currently a full time teacher, which brings it's own restrictions. In the next two months the church will need to further define and prioritize pastoral duties and decide if/how much they can financially contribute to a part time pastor's salary.

Ideally, Stefan would love to reduce his teaching hours to allow more time for church responsibilities. If Stefan wants to have a chance at reducing his school hours by any amount, he has to apply by the end of January (for the following academic year). Since we are not currently in a position to have our income reduced, it's important that the church be able to pay for any hours/pay reduction Stefan were to get from the school system. There are a number of tricky things that go along with these sorts of logistics, but please pray these things are able to be worked out.

The church was so pleased with the outcome of the vote, I really can't tell you! They all just burst into applause when the elder announced the unanimous results! The funny thing is, they aren't technically allowed to call him 'pastor' because it's a protected title in Germany. Stefan would have to complete a number of training type things to be able to officially be called a pastor (yes, so German), even though he has an M.Div from GCTS and would be performing pastoral responsibilities. The elder asked them what they should call him, and somebody shouted out "Hirte!" (pronounced heer-tuh), which means shepherd. We'll have to see if that sticks.

On Sunday, January 2, 2011, Stefan will be formally installed as the church's 'Hirte/pastor'. The senior pastor, Thorsten, from the sister church in Giessen, and one of their elders, Helge Stadelman (also the president of the seminary in Giessen), will be there for the blessing. If you'd like to come, just let us know!