“Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:2)

Sunday I got to use one of my favorite weather phrases: “It’s a little British out there today!” And it was: dull, rainy, misty, temperatures dropping all day long. It was the sort of day when my middle school P.E. teacher would say, “No soccer today (only he’d say “football”); it’s a great day for cross-country!” Or, “This is cross-country weather so we’re cancelling indoor calisthenics and running instead.”

Thanks so much, Mr. Herbert!

But inside – here in Tarboro, Sunday was warm and bright and friendly all day long, both in the MaulHall Tarboro annex and over at Howard Memorial Presbyterian Church.

Interim Pastor:

We are in the middle of this process here known as an “Interim Pastorate.” Rebekah’s role, officially, is that of interim – or transitional – minister. It’s a job that is variously interpreted around the task of helping a church move through the months (and sometimes much more) of searching for a new permanent preacher after the previous one has retired or moved.

Preachers in the Presbyterian tradition tend to stay at a congregation anywhere from three to thirty years. Rebekah, for example, served 14 years in Pensacola, 17 in Brandon, and then eight in Wake Forest.

Rebekah and I both believe that – barring exceptional circumstances – the amount of time a church takes to call the next preacher needs to be as short as possible. Regardless, there are milestones that must be checked off.

The process in a nutshell:

First, the church searches for the right person to serve as interim pastor. For HMPC this took a few months, so Rebekah started work here November 27, 2023.

Then, a “Mission study team” is assembled. Their task is to use prayer, scripture, surveys, studies, focus groups and other tools to determine exactly who they are as a congregation and to understand the vision (calling, hopes and dreams) of the church as it moves forward. This helps the congregation to think about what kind of a preacher/leader they are looking for.

The mission study is then submitted to New Hope Presbytery (the regional body), for approval in prayerful collaboration. When the green light is given, Howard Memorial will elect a pastor search team.

These folk then prepare a CIF – Church Information Form – describing the church, its vision, what they are looking for in a pastor, the “job description” and how they feel God is leading them. The CIF is rooted in the mission study. Once activated, the CIF attracts resumes and referrals, and the search is officially underway.

Meanwhile Rebekah is preaching and consulting and loving and teaching and inspiring and encouraging and counseling and baptizing and marrying and burying and helping keep the congregation’s eyes on Jesus.

“With our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).

We are moving right along:

This week Rebekah taught Part One of a church-wide Bible class helping to round out the mission study. Then, during worship, she preached the second sermon in her series on “The Names of God.”

This is a strong church, with 150 years of dynamic history to build on. Rebekah and I have every confidence that – with God’s help – this faithful congregation will move quickly into the next and most dynamic phase of their ministry.

Until that day, we plan to love these beautiful people and to enjoy the privilege of living in this lovely town.

We believe the best, most vital, most exciting years for Howard Memorial Presbyterian Church are not in the rearview mirror, but right around the corner.

With God’s help, in partnership with Jesus and through the transformational power of The Holy Spirit.

Peace and blessings – DEREK