The intentional interim pastor was selected for the interim pastor position only. His role is to serve as a bridge this season between Pastor Mike and the next Lead Pastor, and he is not a candidate for the Lead Pastor position.

An intentional interim is exactly that. An interim pastor was brought in to intentionally provide some space and separation between Pastor Mike’s transition out and the transition of a new Lead Pastor. The interim pastor will not be considered for the permanent Lead Pastor role and is solely here for the interim period. As a church, we need time to realign ourselves with God’s vision for us and begin eagerly anticipating the new season of ministry that a new Lead Pastor will help bring.

Since January 2024, our consultant has sent us ten candidate profiles, which we have reviewed. We have conducted multiple interviews out of those 10 candidates. Out of those 10, there are two candidates in the profile pool that we are looking at closely. Our consultant is also evaluating 17 more potential candidates. He will then send on to us to review those candidates that he feels meet our criteria and would possibly be a good match.

Per RLC’s constitution, “In the event of a vacancy, for any reason, in the office of Senior Pastor, the Church Leadership Team in consultation with the Executive Staff, shall act as the Senior Pastor Selection Team.” (p. 10 Section 2)

The primary role of the Church Leadership Team (CLT) is to lead the church in following Christ through example, direction, and oversight. In this case, it also serves as the Senior Pastor Selection Team. The Church Leadership Team is made up of the Senior Pastor, Executive Pastor, Personnel Chairperson, Financial Chairperson, and three at-large members.

Our process started with prayer, and prayer is a fundamental part of the entire process. We believe that God has already determined who should be the next Lead Pastor, and we’re going to prayerfully seek God’s guidance to lead us to that man.

With God’s help, the Church Leadership Team has prayerfully created a multi-step Lead Pastor Transition Plan that we are calling “Moving Forward in Faith”. That process is described on this page. We are updating it on a regular basis to keep the information and timeline as accurate as possible.

Based on the wisdom passed on to us from our conversations with other churches who have gone through a similar transition process, the CLT decided to partner with a Christian-based external recruiter to help ensure that our search process is healthy, and we cast a wide net for potential candidates. We interviewed three excellent consultants from nationally known external recruitment firms and then conducted reference interviews with church leaders who had recently partnered with these consultants. In December 2022, the CLT selected the Slingshot Group to partner with us on detailed succession planning and recruitment.

Although a lot of effort is going into this transition process, the Church Leadership Team desires to be fully dependent on the Lord and His guidance and direction. This is easier said than done! So, here are some ongoing prayer requests:

• Pray that the team will seek the Lord in all the little details of this process. We want to be dependent on Him alone!

• Pray for the Real Life Church family that this transition will be smooth and that it may be the start of an exciting new season of ministry to our community.

For the immediate future, you can also be praying for God to provide us with wisdom, clarity, and unity in:

• Our ability to hear clearly from God about what refinements or additional clarity is needed regarding the vision for Real Life for the next 5-10 years.

• Our partnership with our external recruiter regarding our specific recruitment process.

Yes. The Church Leadership Team will interview and select a qualified candidate to present to the church congregation for approval. Per the RLC constitution (p. 12), the candidate “must be approved by 2/3 of votes received by active members’ present, eligible and casting votes”.

According to the RLC constitution (p. 15 under Article IV “Church Membership”) an active voting-eligible member has met the following requirements:

Section 1 - Church Membership Requirements:

Express a personal commitment of faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

Baptism by immersion.

Completion of the church membership class. (Starting Point or previous version)

Signed commitment to the Membership Covenant.

Section 2 – Voting Privileges of members: All active members who have attained the age of eighteen years shall have the right to vote as part of the congregation.

If you are uncertain if you are an active member or not you may contact the church office at 704-822-1933.

The goal of the Church Leadership Team is to communicate regularly with the congregation across a variety of platforms. Church members can expect to hear from the CLT occasionally from the front during Sunday morning gatherings, through periodic Q and A’s, and email updates.

In addition, this webpage will serve as a central location for transition updates. Other elements on this page are reviewed monthly to ensure the church body has current information and timeline updates.