A nine-member Transition Team appointed by the Congregation Council following departure of Pastor Dave has been busy laying the groundwork for Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church to call a new pastor.
Since an organizational meeting at the beginning of January, the team has met twice a month, collecting information and congregation feedback to assist a Call Committee in identifying a candidate or candidates from the Grand Canyon Synod of the ELCA. As it does a required self-assessment of Beautiful Savior, the team held well-attended roundtable discussions in February and March. An 18-question survey distributed at church and online generated 50 responses.
We've also done research and reviewed BSLC documents, including the constitution, bylaws and various agreements. Many require updates or editing, which the team will handle. Also, a top Tucson Realtor did a "curb appeal" walk of the Beautiful Savior buildings and campus and made many recommendations. A Christian and the mother of an 8- and a 3-year-old, she strongly encouraged improvements to the nursery area of the Luther Room to make it more appealing to families with young children.
Most importantly, the team has listened to what you have to say. Interim Pastor Tony Scheer has been instrumental in guiding the team.
Comments from the roundtables and the survey results have been compiled. Members by and large are happy with Beautiful Savior, believing it is a warm, welcoming, generous collection of believers. They also find many ways to get involved.
An expressed concern is the continuing financial deficit in the church's annual Mission Plan, which at the beginning of 2025 was a negative $44,000. Some members said they felt leaders hadn't been transparent about the financial condition and what was being done. After those concerns were shared with the council, steps have been taken to cut costs and to seek a higher level of member giving. At last report the deficit had been cut approximately in half.
Results of the roundtables, the survey, your desired attributes for a next pastor and the leadership style of former Pastor David Pavesic, will be included in a Transition Report the team is writing. The report is a group effort with team members dictating or suggesting ideas and comments; Terri Lappin has been patiently typing them on her computer and projecting them on a large TV monitor. There has been much discussion with many edits, revisions, additional comments. Safeway's delicious chocolate chip cookies have sustained us through a couple long meetings.
We expect the report to be completed by the end of June. It will be shared with the congregation, the Congregation Council, the Synod and Bishop Deborah K. Hutterer.
The Transition Report is one of two documents the team is required to produce. The other is the Synod's Ministry Site Profile, an online form that is our formal job listing. It will be available through the Synod and seen by pastoral candidates. Much of the information for the MSP already has been produced by the team; it will be filed soon after the Transition Report is completed and shared.
- Mark Mittelstadt