Meet your new Transition Coach, Pr. Glenn Zimbelman
Greetings from your Transition Coach!
I thought it would be good to give Faith congregation an update on coaching. I have been a pastor for 37 years, serving a variety of congregations. My best fits were mission churches, having created one and finished my last call serving in Maricopa where we met for worship in a school. My wife Janice used to be your Transition Coach but she was called as Director of Transition for both Rocky Mountain Synod and Grand Canyon Synod. So when I have a question I know where to go! I enjoy camping, vegetable gardening, hiking, fishing and Legos. We live in Prescott and enjoy the cool summers.
Transitional Coaching in the Grand Canyon Synod is a practice that is only a year old. The idea is that a coach is your resource for anything needed while in Transition. There is anxiety through the process and certainly it teaches all of us to wait on God! The coach primarily works with the Call Committee while Pastor Sarah, your interim, assists in creating the mission site profile (MSP), which you have already completed. We even have a new manual and that can now be found at https://www.gcsynod.org/transition.
Currently your MSP has been submitted to the ELCA database. I have been in contact with your Call Committee Chair, John Conrad Johstonbaugh, as we await on God's timing for candidates for Faith. The synod office looks through names of candidates looking for a new call. We take the MSP and see if there is a match with a potential candidate. Our Bishop must approve all names submitted to a congregation and she hopes to have 1-3 names. There is a clergy shortage so this all takes time. Once our Bishop approves names they are sent to the Coach and I contact the Call Committee. The Call Committee then begins the interview process with the Holy Spirit's guidance. You are in good hands with Pr. Sarah and your church leadership! As you wait, continue to pray for your church, the synod office and the ELCA as we seek pastors and deacons to serve the church.
Pastor Glenn Zimbelman
