When a church in the ELCA sets out to hire a new pastor, they embark upon "the Call Process" -- a path of discernment and deliberation unique to the ELCA.
Often at St. John's the Council solicits applications from members of the congregation and from this pool chooses the Call Committee, composed of between seven and nine members as dictated by the Constitution.
The Call Committee is bound by confidentiality as they are making very important decisions about the careers of pastors who may be serving other congregations while seeking a new call. So often months go by without hearing anything about a call process, but that doesn't mean that progress is not being made.
If you have questions about the Call Process or about the work of a current Call Committee, please contact Pastor Frank Espegren, Senior Pastor.
Meet with the Call Committee: Sunday, April 28 at 10:15 am in the
Sanctuary
The Associate Pastor Call Committee and Pastor Frank
Espegren will be discussing the Associate Pastor call process and
the Congregational Profile which is available in draft form to
download. Read the profile and bring your thoughts on it to
this important meeting.
With the calling of Pastor Frank Espegren as Senior Pastor, this
call process is now complete. We give thanks to the
dedicated men and women who served on the Call Committee, giving
of their time and talents to make this important decision.
This afternoon the congregation of St. John’s Lutheran Church met
to vote on the Call Committee’s recommendation that Pastor Frank
Espegren be called as Senior Pastor. After a thoughtful and
enthusiastic presentation by the Call Committee, Pastor Espegren
was called by an overwhelming majority of the voting members
present. The congregation also voted to approve the
compensation package as recommended by the Congregational
Council.
