Succession Updates
May 29th, 2011
On Sunday May 15th, Doug Halcomb was officially affirmed as Live Oak Senior Pastor Designate, after a thirty day period of prayer and discussion. He will begin as Senior Pastor on January 1, 2012.
April 9th, 2011
Founding and Current Sr. Pastor, Chuck Williams announced at the conclusion of both services that Doug Halcomb is the unanimous recommendation of the Live Oak Elders and Succession Team to succeed him as Sr. Pastor.
Chuck Reminded us that our goals in this Sr. Pastor Succession are as follows:
The goals of L.O. leadership in this succession process:
* To Honor the Lord
* To preserve the core & stimulate progress (We are committed to keeping our thumbprint, our identity and values intact, while we move to greater heights and effectiveness than ever before.)
* To facilitate a smooth and seamless transition from founding senior pastor to succeeding senior pastor.
* To allow Jesus to continue to build His church! Matthew 16:18 – “… I will build my church …” - Jesus
Chuck reviewed the process that Live Oak has been involved in over the last few years:
2008 – The launching of 5-year vision, which included the concept of adding a teaching pastor to our staff.
2009 – April, 2010 – It began to be clear that we would not be able to add an additional staff person to specialize in teaching. Chuck began to sense God saying, “it’s time to begin a succession process.” He shared this “whisper” from God with the Elders.
May 2010 – Elders make decision to appoint a “Succession Team” to give input and leadership to the succession process. This team is made up of a broad demographic of men and women to fully represent our membership.
June 1, 2010 – First meeting of Succession Team
7/24/10 – Elders meet to discern the identification of Live Oak’s DNA and what we are looking for in a new Sr. Pastor. Consider the possibility of looking for succeeding pastor from within our extended church family.
August, 2010 – Clarification of Job Description by Succession Team, with approval of the Elders.
Sept. 14, 2010 – Elders, after much prayer and fasting, decide to begin the search from within our Live Oak “DNA” base before opening a general search. This was unanimous decision of all elders present.
Identification of candidates from with the Live Oak “DNA base” by elders and Succession Team. (Unanimous)
Oct. 6, 2010 – Chuck announced to the church at 1st Wednesday his upcoming retirement from the Sr. Pastor role, pending the selection and confirmation of a new Sr. Pastor.
Late 2010 – January 2011 - Application Process: Questionnaires, Interviews, Succession Team discernment, decision, and recommendation to Elders. (Unanimous)
January – February, 2011 - Elder prayerful consideration, discernment, evaluation, and decision. (Unanimous)
February 15, 2011 - Formal invitation issued to chosen candidate by elders, giving him thirty-plus days to seek God’s will and make decision.
March 23, 2011 - Doug said, “yes.”
Approval by senior staff and Board of Directors (Unanimous)
April 10, 2011 – Presentation to the church for thirty-day period of prayer and discussion.
May 15, … Participating Member Meetings for affirmation of Sr. Pastor Designate.
January 20th, 2011
The Succession Team was very impressed with the candidate interviews that were conducted earlier in January. The atmosphere in the most recent Succession Team meeting, January 18, was positive and productive. They will meet again in February. Future steps for the team include composing an official written recommendation to the elders.
December 22nd, 2010
The Succession Team will meet Jan 4th to plan interviews. They will conduct interviews later that month.
November 22nd, 2010
The Succession Team is currently reviewing responses to questionnaires that have been completed by leading candidates. We are very encouraged and are praying for wisdom and discernment in this process. We anticipate finishing these prepminary discussions and deciding on next steps before the end of the year. We'll meet December 7th and 20th.
October 6th, 2010
There is currently a Succession Team in place. This team was specifically chosen by the pve Oak Elder Board to capture an accurate cross-section of the church body. This team meets on a regular basis.
A timepne for the length of the succession process has not been set at this point.
In coordination with the Board of Elders, the Succession Team is in the process of developing a job description and apppcation.
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