Lake Hills Begins Search for Pastor of Music +

Church Family,

The Lord is growing Lake Hills! We’ve had 30+ people take the Membership Matters course over the past nine months. Some of them have been voted in as members and many others will soon be voted in! That’s exciting! Student ministry and children’s ministry continue to flourish as well! It seems that nearly every week we are seeing new people visit our church for the first time. When I began candidating at Lake Hills, I was told the average attendance was in the 250s. Now we regularly average over 300+ people each Sunday. I praise God for this and join with you in asking Him to help us be faithful to all the sheep the Lord brings our way. 

Good “Problems”

With growth comes necessary challenges. We have people who want to be in Life Groups but no place to put them and no leaders to start groups! We have adult Sunday School classes that are growing and full! We have demands in leading music ministry that is beyond the ability of someone to take care of it on a part-time basis! We have people who need pastoral care that is beyond my ability! 

In addition to this, Kevin Heiser has let me know that after a trial run of being part-time director of music ministry, he believes its best to step down effective at the end of April. He is a full-time schoolteacher and father of one with another due any day. He wants to do things with excellence and feels that he can’t do all God wants him to with excellence while serving as part-time director of music ministry. I appreciate his desire for doing things well and do not blame him for this decision. He and Lisa (his wife) will continue to be part of our church, and he has agreed to lead one week of services once a month starting in June. 

Circumstances sometimes push us to make decisions sooner than we anticipate. I believe our circumstances warrant another pastor to serve the saints at Lake Hills on a full-time basis. I’ve spoken with Pastor Adam and the deacons about this, and we are in full agreement.

Our Plan

We believe we need to begin searching for a full-time pastor of music + effective immediately. We envision this man overseeing music plus another area of ministry or two, depending on his giftings. When we say “pastor,” we mean we want a man who sees his role as being a shepherd of God’s people by God’s Word first, and leading worship as secondary. We are hopeful he can teach God’s Word in various capacities and share in pastoral oversight over the entire congregation in addition to shepherding musicians and overseeing music ministry. 

Our plan moving forward is as follows:

Step 1: Begin regularly praying for King Jesus to oversee this process and give us direction as He sees fit. 

Step 2: Establish a temporary team of worship leaders who will each lead identical first and second services one Sunday a month until the Lord gives us a new pastor of music +. Pastor Jacob will oversee these worship leaders.

Step 3: Establish a search team of four people to work alongside Pastor Jacob in developing a ministry description and leading the charge to find the man God has been preparing. The search team will be approved by the pastors and deacons. The search team will give an update to the congregation once per month until the search is completed.

Step 4: Employ a reputable ministry search firm to aid in the process of searching and vetting potential men for this position. The search team will work closely with the representatives from this firm. (Suggestions of men to consider can be made to the search team, and once developed, the ministry description will be available to anyone interested.)

Step 5: Present a man to candidate to the congregation and be voted on by the members to serve alongside our current pastors.

Pastor Adam, the deacons, future search team, and I welcome any input you may have. 

A Word of Encouragement

I want to encourage us all to see this next step through the eyes of faith. Remember that our God is “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20b, ESV). Don’t forget that our God just paid off a new roof and over $300,000 of debt in less than a year! 

Truly, friends, King Jesus is already ruling and reigning! He is going to bring us a godly man (and perhaps a family) who loves Him and his Word, has the heart of a shepherd and the skill of a musician. We need to start praying for the Lord to prepare his heart for us and our hearts for him and (potentially) his family.

Your fellow servant, and on behalf of Pastor Adam and the deacons,

Pastor Jacob