Like Always, Like Never Before

Offering Exceptional Options for Christian Education for 75 Years

Faith formation is key to a thriving church community and Normandale has offered families exceptional options for Christian education for 75 years. Our goal has consistently remained to provide tools and resources for everyone to build and strengthen their faith, from the youngest of our children to the oldest of our elders.

As we have reviewed this particular aspect of our history, it has become abundantly apparent that alongside our growth of faith has come our growth of community. Small seeds of good friends grow strong roots of adult bible studies. Children form lifelong friendships through singing in choir together. Youth bond over shared experiences and memories.  “Church friends” is a separate category for all ages, whether it is children describing who they look forward to seeing in Sunday School or adults identifying how they’ve held relationship with someone else for the majority of their lives.

Faith formation and community formation are deeply entwined at Normandale Lutheran Church!

As you see visual representation and hear stories about faith and community formation here, consider how we take parts of our past and create something new for the people who come after us. What do the children, youth, and adults need today to understand more about God’s work in the world and strengthen their faith to be the church in the world for the next 75 years?

In faith, the 75th Anniversary Faith and Community Formation Subcommittee:

Edel Henningson, Team Lead

Jacob Boettcher Belz

Mandy Blizzard

Olivia Diercks

Jessica Dodington

Ann LaPorte

Kristi Shepherd

Joanna Swanson, Heritage Display Liaison

The Congregation's Role

Our congregation plays three (3) very important roles in the call process, including the last step – voting to call the new lead pastor.

  1. Prayer – Please pray throughout this process. Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide the right candidate for us into our call process. Pray for the Call Committee in its work. Pray for Normandale Lutheran Church, our pastors, and our staff as they lead us through our transition. And pray that God will comfort us in this in-between time.

  2. Candidate Recommendations – Our congregation has been a great referral source for Normandale Lutheran Church lead pastors in the past – both of our last two lead pastors were identified as referrals from our congregation. If you know a pastor who might be a good fit for Normandale Lutheran Church, please let the Call Committee know. You can email referrals to the Call Committee at normluthcc@gmail.com or speak to a Call Committee member directly when you see one of us around Normandale. Please be sure to provide (a) the name of the candidate; (b) the name of the church or organization which the candidate is currently serving; and (c) the city and state in which the church or organization is located. This information will help the Call Committee research the candidate for inclusion in our process. All recommendations will be carefully considered by the Call Committee, but please note that the Call Committee may decide not to advance a candidate recommended by the congregation to the interview stage of our process.

  3. Voting to Extend the Call – Under our church constitution, the congregation makes the decision on whether to extend the call to the lead pastor candidate recommended by the Call Committee. Once the Call Committee identifies a recommended candidate, the following steps will occur:

    • The Church Council will call a special meeting of the congregation. Notice of the special meeting must be given in worship on the two consecutive Sundays preceding the special meeting. Notice must also be provided by mail at least ten days in advance of the special meeting.

    • At the special meeting of the congregation, the candidate will speak and then will depart the meeting to allow the congregation to deliberate. The Call Committee will explain its process for reaching its recommendation and answer questions from the congregation.

    • The congregation will then vote on whether to extend a call to the recommended candidate. All confirmed members of Normandale Lutheran Church are eligible to vote. The call will be extended if at least two-thirds of the voting members present and voting at the special meeting vote to extend the call.
LEARN MORE

August 25, 2024 Listening Session with Minneapolis Area Synod Bishop Jen Nagel

Contact Us

Do you have a question about the call process? A pastor to recommend for our lead pastor position? Looking for a status update? Please stop one of us when you see us around Normandale or send us an email.

Confidentiality

Decisions made during our call process can be very sensitive – for Normandale Lutheran as a congregation, for candidates for our lead pastor position, and for the congregations that those candidates currently serve. For example, it would be awkward for a congregation to learn that its beloved pastor was pursuing a call with Normandale, particularly if the call was not extended and the pastor remained with her congregation. Similarly, it would be awkward for our congregation to learn that a pastor well known to our congregation was offered our position but decided not to take it.

For these and other reasons, the Call Committee will conduct all candidate evaluations under strict confidentiality. We will be as transparent as possible about our process and the status of our work, but we must keep information about specific candidates confidential.

Thank you for your understanding!

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