Dear Friends-

Since the adoption of the new form of government in 2011, what was a list of different classifications of pastoral position was reduced to two: installed and temporary.  Since that point in time, many Presbyteries, including our own, have created variants of these two main pastoral types to address specific ministry and mission needs.  In our Presbytery, we’ve defined positions such as Interim and Designated that are a type of temporary and installed calls, respectively.

Over the last nine months, the Pastoral Vitality subcommittee of the Commission on Ministry (COM) identified that we had several people who were serving in “temporary” positions that were in no way operating as temporary.  To address this concern, COM has adopted a new position type: Covenant Pastor.  The covenant pastor position is defined as follows: A Covenant Pastor is a specific type of Temporary Pastoral Relationship, as defined by G-2.0504b. In contrast to Temporary and Interim Pastors, a Covenant Pastoral Relationship implies that there is no on-going or immediately anticipated search for new pastoral leadership and that the Covenant Pastor is, for the foreseeable future, the Pastor of a congregation.

As Sessions consider renewals for those currently classified as temporary pastors and associate pastors, we encourage every pastor who fits the above definition and is now a temporary pastor to switch to the Covenant Pastor Agreement when it comes time to renew the coming year.

You can find the Covenant Pastor Agreement on our website on the COM Forms Page.  If there are any questions, please contact the Commission on Ministry.  

In Christ,

Rev. Ben Schneider

Pastoral Vitality Sub-Committee Chairt

Rev. Brian Wallace

Pastoral Vitality Sub-Committee Staff Liason