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A Word from Personnel...
Last Sunday, David Shirey shared, “Nobody likes liminal time. Who likes to be disoriented? Neither here nor there. Uncertain. Unsettled. Unsatisfactory! Nobody likes liminal”. Liminal is derived from the Latin word “limen” which means “threshold”. Liminal space is the space between what is and what will happen next. In order words, it is the space we occupy (physically, emotionally, spiritually) during a period of transition.
When we consider the liminal space between what is and what will happen next, the Personnel Committee has considered the anticipated retirements of our beloved staff, Terry Overfelt and Ingrid Luckenbill, as well as welcoming a new Senior Pastor. Consequently, the Personnel Committee (Tim Espy, Jack Miles, Doug Crouse, Adrienne Black, Marilee Fischer, Luci Fichter, Mary Cunningham, Ex Officio, David Shirey) recommended to the Board on October 24th, the hiring of consultant Sarai Rice, MDiv to conduct a staffing analysis.
Fundamentally, the assessment will incorporate asking, What is God calling Broadway to do and become next? Does our staffing structure support our priorities? What staff changes are required to support our strategic priorities? We believe this approach will provide an objective assessment based upon an understanding of local/nationwide church demographics and trends, staffing patterns, salary ranges, and conducted without personal investment in person or position.
The Personnel Committee reviewed the bios of 7 potential consultants. The review was conducted independently. Sarai Rice was one of 2 consultants who rose to the top of the list. Sarai Rice holds a bachelor’s degree from Truman State and MDiv from Yale. She has served as the Executive Director of the Des Moines Area Religious Council, an interfaith organization of 125 member congregations. Since 2008, she has consulted with congregations around the country in the areas of strategic planning, governance and staffing, first with the Alban Institute (Duke Divinity) and currently with Congregational Consulting Group. She served as Interim Presbytery Executive in North Central Iowa and Twin Cities Area. She has served congregations in Iowa and Tennessee as both full time pastor and interim pastor.
We are currently nailing down the dates that she will be in Columbia conducting interviews with staff and lay servants. Our goal is to accomplish this in the next several weeks with a written report anticipated 4 weeks later.
We are grateful for the support of the Board. We believe the timeliness of such an analysis is critical and a worthwhile investment.
Please direct questions to the Personnel Committee members.
Mary Cunningham, Personnel Committee Chair
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