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4.25.24 Update [NEW]
Service of Release
This coming Sunday, April 28th, will be a “Service of Release” for our Senior Pastor, Eric Sherlock. A Service of Release is a formal ceremony, attended by the members of the congregation and our Bay Association representatives to formally release our pastor from his duties of pastoral care to our community. It’s not simply a “goodbye,” but a formal covenant of no contact.
Once the Service of Release is over, and Pastor Eric leaves DCC, church members and the pastor are not to engage in any form of communication including, but not limited to, texting and social media. This is outlined within “The Ordained Ministers Code” under the Ethics of Ministry from the United Church of Christ Manual on the Ministry, as it relates to a departed pastor. This section reads:
“I will not perform pastoral services within a parish or for a member of a parish without the consent of the pastor of that parish. I will deal honorably with the record of my predecessor and successor. I will not, upon my termination and departure from a ministry position, interfere with, nor intrude upon the ministry of my successor.”
We want to emphasize this ethical responsibility because these departures are difficult. There may be the temptation to turn to Pastor Eric for advice and counsel. Also, you may be tempted to call him for funerals, weddings, and other pastoral services. This is a natural inclination because we have a relationship with him. However, in the long term, this will neither serve us, nor Pastor Eric once he has departed. Requests of this nature put him in an awkward position of saying “no”. As a congregation, we will need time to move through the interim and search process with a focus on the present and future. We also need to give our next pastor an opportunity to establish his/her leadership and develop a relationship with you.
We all want to wish Pastor Eric Godspeed and blessings on his new vocation in counseling–be sure to reach out to him prior to his departure to send him forth with our love. Please let Barb DeBarger or Kyra Kennedy know if you have any questions. We will provide more information soon about our upcoming Congregational Input Meetings, coming up in May.
- May 14 — Zoom meeting, 6:30pm–7:30pm
Zoom Meeting Link
Meeting ID: 841 2137 5583
- May 19– In Person Second Hour, 11:00am–12:00pm (in Kairos Hall)
- May 22– Zoom meeting, 6:30-7:30pm
Zoom Meeting Link
Meeting ID: 825 4175 9467
4.18.24 Update
Danville Congregational Church is having a service of Godspeed to celebrate and honor the ministry of our Senior Pastor, Eric Sherlock, on his final church service with us on Sunday, April 28th. The church will be sending him off with gifts and good wishes, and during our coffee hour, there will be cake in Koinonia Hall. Additionally, Jeanne Strauss, the Moderator from the Bay Association of the United Church of Christ, will join us for Pastor Eric’s Service of Release. Please join us!
3.28.24 Update
The Moderator Team has met to discuss the schedule of activities to help our church prepare for our Pastoral transition, and we have identified three dates in which our congregation can come together to participate in conversation around what we are looking for in the future leadership of our church. We envision presenting the church with questions to respond to, and an opportunity to share your thoughts and ideas. We plan to begin these activities in May, after our busy Lenten season, and after Pastor Eric has departed. People can attend one or all of these opportunities, but they will all have the same content. These opportunities are noted below:
- May 14 — Zoom meeting, 6:30pm–7:30pm
Zoom Meeting Link
Meeting ID: 841 2137 5583
- May 19– In Person Second Hour, 11:00am–12:00pm (in Kairos Hall)
- May 22– Zoom meeting, 6:30-7:30pm
Zoom Meeting Link
Meeting ID: 825 4175 9467
As always, if you have any questions or comments about our Pastoral Transition, please feel free to contact Barb DeBarger or Kyra Kennedy.
3.21.24 Update
Our Senior Pastor, Rev. Eric Sherlock, has submitted his resignation from Danville Congregational Church, effective May 2, 2024. He is going on to pursue his passion for helping people in need by becoming a full-time therapist at a private practice in Walnut Creek. We will miss him greatly and pray for God’s blessings in his career change.
Our Church Council met and has voted to have our Associate Pastor, Rev. Todd Atkins-Whitley serve as Acting Senior Pastor, taking on the additional pastoral duties during this transition process. Pastor Todd is more than capable for this role; he supported the church doing similar work during Pastor Eric’s three-month sabbatical two years ago. The Council has also agreed to support hiring visiting ministers to share the preaching role as well as support Pastor Todd with some of the responsibilities related to his call here among us. Once we have identified these people, we will alert the congregation. We are thrilled that Pastor Todd has agreed to these additional duties; it will provide for seamless operations and support at DCC.
Over the next several weeks, we will be inviting the church to join conversations—both in-person and on Zoom—designed to invite our entire congregation to weigh-in on what we are looking for in a Senior Pastor. Once we have identified the dates and have held these meetings, we will assemble a transition team to move on our next steps in calling our next settled Senior Pastor. We envision this team to be a representative group of our congregation, able to voice our needs and desires for leadership, taking into account the information gathered at these congregational input meetings. We ask the congregation to pray for us as we go through this process.
We will post a weekly update on our transition process in our Thursday e-news and in the Sunday bulletins. If you have any questions about our process, please feel free to contact our Moderators, Barb DeBarger and Kyra Kennedy.
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