From our Church Moderator Calvin Hall

To the Members and Friends of the Presque Isle Congregational Church

As many of you are aware by now, Pastor Tim Stohlberg tendered his resignation as our Pastor and will complete his ministry with us on October 3, 2022. We will be forever grateful for his 11 years of leadership in the pulpit. In his letter of resignation, he wrote that “while change is challenging, with change comes opportunity.” Using his words again, it is his hope that the church would use his departure as an opportunity to evaluate its priorities and resources and staff accordingly. To that end, the Church Council met on Monday, August 8, 2022, to begin that process.

Our By-laws state that “In the event of a vacancy in the office of Pastor, the church, at a duly called business meeting, shall appoint a search committee of not less than six nor more than twelve members the Church.” To begin that process the Council is asking for volunteers to serve on this committee. And although the By-laws call for the committee to be made up of members, I believe there is a place in the process for those who have found a home with us but have not yet sought the formal process of membership and I would encourage you to submit your name for consideration. The Council will select members of the search committee from the list of volunteers based on a mix that reflects our history, past present and future. The search committee will be charged with addressing the short term needs for interim Pastoral leadership.

At the same time we begin the search process we need to evaluate our priorities and resources as stated above. This calls for a separate committee which I will refer to as the Vision Committee and we are looking for volunteers who are interested in helping to chart our future as a congregation. It will be important that the two committees work together so that our search for a new Pastor results in a leader that brings our vision to life.

Both committees will be working with a net. We have already contacted the Maine Conference which has the staff and resources to assist us. The Council has also authorized our participation in a professional conference sponsored by the Maine Conference, UCC entitled ‘Relaunching Your Church”. This one-day event will be held in late October and available to four of us, either in person at the Falmouth Congregational Church or remotely from your home. More to come on that event.

If you are interested in serving on either committee, please email me at chall001@maine.rr.com or Melissa at piuccoffice@gmail.com. You can also reach me by phone at 207-551-4086.

Calvin Hall, Moderator