Voting on a pastor

Well, it's been an interesting past couple of weeks. We have continued to enjoy our church in Erda. The people are truly warm and sincere and really seem to be seeking to live out their faith. Stefan has been meeting regularly with the elder and pastor from the sister church in Giessen for several months now. Time + meetings + lunches at people's houses = us getting to know and understand the joys and struggles of this church on many different levels. While now is not the place to go into all those things, it is safe to say we've really put a lot of thought and prayer into this situation.

Two weeks ago there was a special church meeting to formally introduce Stefan as a candidate for the pastoral responsibilities of the church. Last night there was a Q&A time for congregants to ask him more 'pointed' questions. Of course there were a few provocative questions, but Stefan did really well going back to Scripture and diffusing a few potential bombs, ha! Obviously I'm proud of him! He left the evening feeling like he didn't compromise any of his convictions and was able to explain his stance. We went in having no idea what to expect, but it turned out to be a fun evening and everybody went home smiling, so that's good.


On Sunday after the service there will be a special member's meeting to give their vote on whether they want to say 'Ja' to calling Stefan to pastoral duties at the church. We would love a unanimous vote, but we will have to see. If this vote goes well there will be further meetings to determine how many hours Stefan can be hired for and what he will be expected to do in that amount of time. Like many German churches, this church cannot afford a full time pastor. We'll talk about this more if Sunday's vote is positive.

Stefan will also be preaching this Sunday - the first Sunday of Advent - so please pray for this Sunday!