Solo Pastor Search
Called Congregational Meeting — July 26
Session has called a congregational meeting for Sunday, July 26, immediately following worship, to take a step in Whitworth’s transition to a solo-pastor model.
This step follows from Whitworth’s already-discerned transition to a solo-pastor model and the congregation’s election of a Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC) to search for that position. Because current giving levels cannot support more than one pastor, the action before the congregation would keep Pastor Jamie’s position unchanged through September 2026, reduce it to 20 hours per week from October through December 2026, and dissolve the Associate Pastor position effective December 31, 2026.
The plan also includes severance to help care for Pastor Jamie during this transition. Pastor Jamie has been part of this process and concurs with the action before the congregation. Following this step, concurrence from presbytery must also be sought.
We know this is a tender matter, and we want to move through it with honesty, care, and trust. We also trust that God is at work both in Pastor Jamie’s discernment and in Whitworth’s search process, and we do not need to force or rush either one.
This action is separate from the PNC’s search. Pastor Jamie may or may not feel called to pursue the solo pastor position, and the Book of Order says an associate pastor is “ordinarily not eligible” to be the next installed pastor of the same congregation, except through a presbytery process.
Because of that, please do not ask PNC members or Pastor Jamie questions in ways that may place pressure on them. There will be time for questions about this congregational action at the meeting. Please hold the whole church in prayer during this important season of discernment.
Message from the PNC (Pastor Nominating Committee
The PNC continues its work this summer. We have completed the Ministry Discernment Profile and now the position for Whitworth’s solo pastor is listed on the PC USA database. We will work through applications as they come through the system. We appreciate your prayerful support for our committee as we work through this process.- PNC
Our mission study was approved by COM in January of 2026!
What's a Mission Study?
A Mission Study is a categorical overview of ministry in a particular setting in order to clarify the next season of ministry. As Pastor Jamie has said, “the mission study is like our dating profile—who we are, what we’re interested in, and who we’re looking for.”
Why do we need one?
We have to know who we are and what we want in order to begin looking for a new pastor who, through the Mission Study, begin to understand our history and our perceived needs. For this reason, a Mission Study is required in our PC(USA) polity and is approved by our presbytery.
How did we write ours?
Our Mission Study builds on prior consulting work conducted by AE Sloan, whose final report was received in 2023, as well as recent work undertaken by the design team for our congregation’s participation in PINW’s Ezra 3 Project as a member of Cohort 2. These engagements surfaced our core values, charisms (what we’re good at, by the grace of God), and strategic direction through an all-church survey, focus groups, storytelling events, guided neighborhood walks, and meetings with regional nonprofit leaders.
Our final Mission Study is a concise discernment process undertaken by the session in late 2025. It was approved by the session in December and by the Presbytery's Committee on Ministry in January 2026. Above all, our Mission Study affirms and refines those conclusions through brief congregational feedback, current demographic context, and theological reflection grounded in Reformed faith and PC(USA) polity.