The congregation’s Nominating Committee is made up of five individuals. Two are elders currently serving on the Session, and three are members of the congregation, not currently serving on the Session. It is a principle of our Presbyterian polity to always maintain a congregational majority on the Nominating Committee, so that the Session has limited influence on the process of nominating others to serve on the Session.
NPC’s Nominating Committee for 2023 are Karen Brown and Jennifer Herrera, representing the Session, and Cheri Luhn and Kathie Meaders, representing the congregation. Jill Crunkleton was elected to this Nominating Committee but had to resign for work reasons before her one-year term was up. In a called congregational meeting on October 1, NPC will fill Jill’s vacant position, so the congregation will again have the majority on the Committee.
The Nominating Committee will be actively working during all of October and November to prepare a slate of nominees for the congregation to consider to fill three vacancies on the Session and four on the Diaconate. We’ll hold a congregational meeting in December to elect both elders and deacons to fill these vacancies with terms ending in 2025 and 2026.
The vacancies on the Session are in the ministry areas of Fellowship, Finance, and Personnel. If you are a member of the Church and have experience working or leading in one of the areas, whether inside or outside the church, you may be a good candidate to fill one of these vacancies. Please begin to pray now about whether you believe God is calling you to take a leadership role at NPC.
Both elder and deacon terms are three-years in length. A second three-year term is optional, but no one is allowed to serve in these roles more than six consecutive years. (We have term limits!) This assures that NPC leadership teams are getting “refreshed” at least every six years with new leaders.
If you get a call from a member of the Nominating Committee asking whether you would be willing to serve as an elder or deacon, please know that you have already been prayed for. Your leadership potential has already been a topic of discussion within the Nominating Committee. But no one outside the Nominating Committee will ever know that you were asked if you choose to say, “Not at this time.”
Also, you may nominate yourself for one of the vacant positions by contacting a member of the Nominating Committee. Just say, “I’d like to serve,” and they will take it from there.
But please prayerfully consider serving. You will find it is a blessing to help lead NPC!
Teresa