Senior Pastor Succession
Constance Free Church has been blessed for over 38 years by Senior Pastor Randy Discher’s preaching and leadership. While the church is thriving and Pastor Randy continues to lead with vitality and vision almost four decades into his tenure at Constance, He and our Elder Board feel the time has come to start the succession process from this position of strength.
Pastor Randy is only the fourth Senior Pastor at Constance in our entire 130+ years of history. God has blessed this church with strong, stable, Christ-centered leadership, and we believe God will continue to guide and bless Constance into the future.
Where are we in the search process?
Gather Evidence
NL Moore & Associates conducts congregational assessment, on-site interviews, and focus groups.
Develop Candidate Profiles
Consultant synthesizes results of congregational assessment, interviews, and focus groups to create Candidate and Opportunity Profiles.
Find Great Candidates
NL Moore & Associates launches a nationwide search to prequalify a high quality pool of candidates (usually between 300-500). They prequalify on theology, education, experience, references, and personal assessments. Viable candidates go through nearly 8 hours of interviews before they reach the next stage. This phase can take approx. 3 months or longer.
The Search Team prepares for their interviews.
Search Team Interviews
Consultant produces a small pool of viable candidates (usually 3-6) to the church’s Search Team. The Search Team begins their discernment process through candidate interviews and personal visits. This phase can also take several months with multiple confidential interviews.
Select and Confirm
A final candidate is recommended to leadership and confirmed according to church bylaws. This includes a candidating weekend, live preaching, meet and greet opportunities for the congregation, etc. Membership votes to confirm the Elder Board’s candidate recommendation.
Become a Member
One way to express your commitment to Constance in this season is through membership. Membership is a commitment to embrace our vision and values, affirm our statement of faith, pray for our church, and participate as an active part of our community. Members participate in the search process through a final vote once a candidate has been selected by the Search Team and recommended to the Elders.
FAQs
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NL Moore is the outside search firm that will do much of the work to identify and screen potential Senior Pastor Candidates for Constance and assist through the entire evaluation and call process.
Constance Search Team will work with NL Moore to evaluate and interview prospective Senior Pastor candidates, ultimately making a candidate recommendation to the Constance Elder Board. The Search Team consists of Taylore Briant, Shelly Carlson, James Dickey, Bethany Glines, Nate Klauser, Enrique Mejia, and Julie Mueller.
Constance Elder Board will oversee the entire search and succession process, eventually evaluating candidates nominated by the Search committee, and, upon Board approval recommending a candidate to the Membership
Constance Transition Team (to be formed) will oversee the planning and execution of candidate visits and related events, and supports the transition in of new staff as well as the transition out for retiring staff.
Constance Membership holds the right to approve by 75% majority the call of any new Senior Pastor candidate as recommended by the Elder Board (in accordance with our church constitution).
Constance Congregation plays a vital role in praying during this journey! The Elders are asking that the entire church be in regular prayer for God’s provision of our next Senior Pastor.
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Please remember that succession is a journey, not an event. Constance Elders, together with Pastor Randy and the senior staff have been discussing and planning for this eventuality for several years now. The congregation has now been invited into this journey, and we hope you will experience a journey that is well planned and well led.
Regarding time line, we do not have any fixed dates. Randy has not announced a retirement date, nor has the board set a retirement date. Rather, we are relying on God to call the next Pastor to Constance and make His choice known to us as we move through this process. If God moves quickly, we will transition more quickly. If God moves deliberately, we will wait on God’s timing. Our church is healthy, unified and growing and Pastor Randy will continue to actively lead this vibrant ministry until we are ready for the baton to pass.
Timeline Dates
Sept, 2023 - Elders informed congregation of the intent to begin formal succession planning and a congregational assessment was completed to inform Succession readiness and process.
June 2024 - NL Moore was selected as the Search firm to assist the Succession effort.
July 2024 - Constance Membership approved a Search Team.
Oct 2024 NL Moore will conduct a weekend visit to Constance with staff interviews, focus groups and Orientation meetings as the search process begins.
None of us know how God is going to move, but it is reasonable to assume that we will not have potential candidates until we move into 2025.
Search Team
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Taylore Briant
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Shelly Carlson
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James Dickey
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Bethany Glines
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Nate Klauser
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Enrique Mejia
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Julie Mueller
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Chad Hanson (Elder)
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Trent Lackie (Elder)
Elder Board
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Chad Hanson
Elder Chairman
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Chuck Hayes
Elder
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Joe Fry
Elder
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Doug Ackerman
Elder
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Shawn Conway
Elder
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Wayne Beich
Elder
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Trent Lackie
Elder
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Tom Delich
Elder
A Season of Prayer
As mentioned above, the Elders are calling the entire congregation to a season of prayer. We will on occasion issue very specific prayer items as we move through this process, but be in regular prayer for these standing needs:
For Pastor Randy and Deb as Randy continues to lead this growing church and yet and they both start to prepare for a significant transition to a new season in their lives
For NL Moore to be equipped in every way possible to offer the best possible search assistance to Constance
For our Search Team – for wisdom and deep discerning, and that they would bind together and function well as a team
For your Elders – for wisdom in leading the church through this season of change
For the Constance staff – that the work of their hands bears much fruit for the kingdom and their ministries grow and flourish during this season of change
For Unity – we have always been blessed with great unity, but we should never take this for granted. For each person who walks through the door of our church to have that extra measure of selfless grace as we journey together. Change is hard, but with a little grace, we will journey well.
What Doesn’t Change
The purpose of Constance Free Church is to glorify God by creating an environment where people can...
Know: Establish a personal relationship with Jesus Christ
Grow: Mature in their relationship with Christ and His Church
Go: Reach out to their community
Our Vision is Helping People Connect with Jesus
And we are committed to preaching the Word of God – “where stands it written”
Our purpose as a church, our mission on this corner of Anoka county and to the ends of the earth, and our commitment to the Word of God will remain core to who we are as a church. Congregants come and go over time. So do staff and Pastors. But Christ’s church remains and we will remain in Christ.
Finally, the pace of ministry at Constance will not move into a holding pattern as we investigate succession, rather the Board and Membership, through board direction and the approval of the 2025 fiscal growth budget have expressed the desire for Pastor Randy and all the ministries of the church to continue executing the vision of the church and further ministry growth!
Have more questions?
Contact: searchteam@constancefree.org