Over the course of the past few weeks, Evan has had opportunities to engage with various members and groups of the Knox community. He had multiple interactions with the APNC, attended both 9:00 and 10:30 worship services, met with Pastors Becca and Dave, dined with the Youth and Young Adult Council, met with members of the Knox staff and most importantly lead games with the middle schoolers and Bible study with the high schoolers. Throughout every engagement, Evan proved to have the quality and characteristics of the leader that we have been searching for to lead our youth in their spiritual journeys. We requested feedback from our students after their Bible study with Evan and a few of the comments we received were:

• “He seemed to bring many perspectives to Bible study, and I appreciate how much he really seemed to care about what he was teaching”
• “He did a great job of teaching along with letting each student share their opinions and (in a way) lead the discussion”
• “He seemed to have all the amazing traits I look for in the Knox community, including inclusiveness, kindness and thoughtfulness.”
• “I thought he was really cool. I liked the way he communicated. It felt like he ‘spoke our language’ if you know what I mean.”
• Evan clearly made an impact on these students and we know that in his new role he will build trusting and lasting relationships with not only the youth but their families as well.

Evan currently lives in Wheaton, IL with his wife Stephanie. He will begin his role as Director for Youth Ministries on Sunday, June 1st and we are very excited to have him join us for our Go & Serve Mission Trip next month.

The APNC would like to thank the Knox congregation for their prayers and support as we navigated this search to find the right individual to lead our youth. We are confident that through God’s grace Evan was sent to us and we are so happy to welcome him into the Knox family.

The APNC continues their journey to identify a new Associate Pastor/Director for our Youth and Young Adult Ministries.  We have interviewed several extremely qualified candidates and 2 finalists were invited to visit Knox and participate in a number of engagements.  Both candidates shared a meal with the APNC, attended the 9:00 and 10:30 services, toured the facilities and met with the Youth and Young Adult Council as well as members of the staff, including breakfast with the pastors.  We were very impressed with both individuals and an offer was extended to one.  After several weeks of discernment by the candidate she unfortunately declined our offer and decided to take a position with another church.  While the committee was disappointed with this outcome, we have been given another slate of candidates that we will be reviewing and speaking to.
 
We understand that this has been a long search process, however, we are confident, that through God’s grace, we will be blessed with an individual who will lead our youth and continue to build our program that is an integral part of our Knox organization.

The APNC has been hard at work since February, sourcing candidates and meeting weekly to find our next youth leader. At the beginning of our search, the committee met with the Presbytery to discuss the process and were told that the field of candidates is slim and competition is fierce. This has proven to be true: despite several interviews, we have not yet found the right candidate. To help facilitate the process, we have (after prayerful consideration) partnered with Ministry Architects, a contract search firm, to assist us with our search. They have completed their initial work and provided the APNC with their report; we look forward to working with them in months to come to find the right candidate. Please continue in prayer for us, trusting that God will provide the right candidate at the right time. 

The APNC has been hard at work since February, sourcing candidates and meeting weekly to find our next youth leader. At the beginning of our search, the committee met with the Presbytery to discuss the process and they were told that the field of candidates is slim and there are several churches that are looking to fill the same position, therefore, the competition is fierce. This has proven to be true. While we have conducted interviews with multiple candidates, who were all good people, we did not feel that any of them had the background or personality that were the right match for our requirements. After prayerful consideration, we have partnered with Ministry Architects, a contract search firm, to assist us with our search for candidates that meet our basic requirements and will be a good fit for our church culture and to lead our youth in their spiritual journeys.

Our Ministry Discernment Profile is live and the APNC can now begin receiving applications!
https://clc.pcusa.org/mdp/11527/view/

Our Associate Pastor Nominating Committee is hard at work! Here is a timeline and update to what's been going on. Please keep this committee and their work in your prayers.

• January 2024 - Director of Youth and Young Adults, Darin Nettleton, announces his plan to resign to pursue his pastoral vocation, effective June 23, 2024 (after Go and Serve) 
• February 2024 - Associate Pastor Nominating Committee (APNC) formed to seek new candidates for this position; applicants may be ordained pastors or non-ordained directors
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  • Members of the APNC: Mark Barrett, Chris Brischetto, Rene De Coning, Jeff Mach, Beth Schlegel, Sarah Segvich, Linda Teets, Audrey Wieczorek, Greta Williams
• February- March 2024 - the APNC began meeting weekly to begin preparatory work
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  • Training by the Presbytery Staff
  • Equipping by Pastor Becca and Darin 
  • Reading The Godbearing Life by Kenda Dean (a Becca-suggested resource on theology and practice of Youth Ministry) 
  • Writing Knox's "Mission Discernment Profile" (MDP) - the Presbyterian version of a job-advertisement (formerly known as MIF or CIF) that will be placed on the Presbyterian job website for all PC(USA) candidates to access 
• April 2024 - almost ready to receive candidates 
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  • MDP approved by Session at April meeting
  • MDP to be uploaded and live online within the next few weeks 
  • MDP to be translated into non-Presbyterian formats to share within other non-PC(USA) networks 
• April - May 2024 - hopefully begin receiving and interviewing potential candidates