February 24th, 2022

The PNC continues to develop our MIF, the first part of the process in discerning who God is calling to be the Pastor of Mt. Bethel Church. The PNC values input from the congregation as a critical part of the process. We are thankful for all of the insightful responses we continue to receive. In addition, we have reached out to specific groups as our discernment reveals the need.

We recently visited with a group of Mt Bethel’s Jr. church and want to share the following summary of their comments.

What characteristics are important in the new pastor? What do you think this person should be like or show us?
They should:
be fun, playful, creative, kind, and like to go down the big slide.
include everybody, teach us the right thing, and be a good teacher.
be loving and enthusiastic about their work.
let other people throw out opinions
never be mean or hurtful or think bad thoughts.
smile a lot but not ‘til their cheeks hurt (not fake).
be easy to talk to and someone you can trust.
not let you “give up”.
be interested in what they do and try to help everybody.
have a good voice to speak with
be kind and patient
always be ready for challenges to be thrown at them like small kids yelling or crying
know how to multi-task.
have a sense of humor that children can relate to and understand.
be friendly and have cool hair.
(Doesn’t matter if they can add numbers together)

What would you like the new minister to know about our Mt. Bethel kids? Especially, what did you like at church before Covid?
The new pastor should understand that we’re not the biggest church community but we all respect each other.
We always like to have a fun lesson.
We want to welcome more people in. We would like to have pajama day, feel cozy, warm, and have fun. (Besides, our church clothes don’t fit anymore.)
Before Covid,
We liked how everybody would say “hi”, the bread and the juice, the music, the Children’s Message, the toys, going out for Jr. church, snacks after church, and the special fun Sundays.
We liked helping clean up outside at the park and making Blessing bags.

What advice do you have for the PNC, the 5 people who are beginning the search process for our new pastor?
Have good questions ready for the interview. Don’t just show up. Prepare the questions ahead of time. Don’t ask just “yes or no” questions. Ask something that will start a conversation so you can check out their attitude. See if they are a conversationalist (wow). Please note if they are sarcastic😊
Ask them what section or group they are more focused on: kids, pastoring, music???
Ask them what they will do if you make a mistake. Will they encourage you or say, “you know that was wrong” in a mean voice.
Will they admit they don’t know everything but have confidence to say “what I do know, I’m good at”?

Do you have any other questions or comments?
Yes, we want to know what the grown-ups said! “They probably used big interesting words.”