Temporary Pastor Service of Commissioning

The following litany may be used as part of an initial Worship Service:

Presbytery Representative:

We are at a time of beginning. We see with joy the possibilities and potential of the future we will share with your Interim Pastor (Covenant Pastor). There is anticipation and expectation and hope that what we build together with God and with one another will be good and faithful, and full of promise and joy.

Congregation:

We do not yet know what the future holds. Nevertheless, we commit ourselves to God with confidence that God will be with us; sure that God will provide us with all that is necessary. We trust God to lead us toward greater wholeness and greater faithfulness.

Ruling Elder:

Yet, we are aware that this time of beginnings is also a time of endings. There are old relationships to which we have, not yet said farewell. There are old hurts and old hopes and old ways of being and doing that are powerful among us, and important to us. We do not come to this time as brand, new people. We come with the past that is a part of, our life as individuals and as a congregation.

Congregation:

We pledge, with God’s help, to accept what is past as past, to cherish what has been good, to forgive what has hurt, to continue what is useful, and to let go of what we no longer need.

Teaching Elder:

With God’s help, I make this covenant with you: I pledge to you that I will be a partner in ministry with you, participating in the life of this congregation, implementing the decisions which will be made, working with you in our common tasks, and assisting you in this time of transition. I pledge to you that I will be a leader among you, offering my vision for this part of Christ’s Church. Listening to your vision, and working with you as we shape and develop our vision. I pledge to you that I will be a pastor for you, standing with you in time of joy or trouble.

Congregation:

God’s help, we make the covenant with you: We pledge to accept and support you as our Interim Pastor, and to encourage you as we share together in the life and work of this congregation. We welcome you as you begin your work in our midst as pastor.

Presbytery Representative:

We are aware that this is a temporary relationship. But we also know that this will be an important time for your congregation. You have covenanted with one another before God to be faithful to your calling as Christian people.

Congregation and Teaching Elder:

As we seek to respond to God’s calling, we promise to deal with one another with love, respect, honesty, humor, and creativity. We promise to remember the precious value of real laughter and genuine tears, of sweat earned in honest labor, and of the hard work of asking difficult questions. Above all, we covenant together by God’s grace to live as God’s people, faithful, free, joyful, just, and loving. Amen!

Presbytery Representative:

May God bless this beginning, and bring us through this time of transition, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord, the head of the Church. Amen.