M A Y 2 0 1 9 | V O L U M E 3 8 | N O . 4

N E W S L E T T E R

“INTERIM” : the inter vening t ime. (meant ime, meanwhi le , inter va l , interlude ; interregnum)

“TRANSITIONAL” : re la t ing to or charac ter i s t i c o f a proce s s or per iod o f t rans i t ion. (movement , pas sage , or change f rom one

po s i t ion, s ta te , s tage , subjec t , concept , e t c . , to another)

“PASTOR” : der ived f rom the Lat in word pas tor, meaning shepherd.

(cont’d. inside)

hat pretty much says it . That’s what I ’m doing here. That’s what the next year or so is going to be al l about , for me,

anyway. Hopefully I ’ l l be able to do each of those things with some competency.

I ’ l l tel l you one thing, I ’m aware of some pretty f ine people who have f i l led this role before me--- men l ike Foster Shannon, Al Desterhaft , Ian Pitt-Watson, Lewis Smedes… and that’s just the Interim/ Transit ional folks who have served you in the past .

There are some particular tasks inherent to the Transit ional Pastor role (that’s the current proper term, so that’s what I put

T

SO WHERE’S PASTOR LARRY? Most weeks , our Trans i t ional Pastor Larry Bal lenger wi l l be in the of f ice and ava i lable

Tuesdays , Wednesdays and Thursdays and on Saturdays by appointment .

on my business card.) Did you know there is specif-ic training and protocol for this job? I took Interim Pas-tor training f irst in 2005, not long after I had retired. I wil l be going back for a re-f resher course at the Tran-sit ional Pastor ’s workshop at Zephyr Point Presbyteri-an Conference Center, Lake Tahoe, July 14-18 . When I went twelve years ago, I was astonished to discov-er how many pastors have chosen transit ional ministry as their primary vocational cal l . There is one guy over in San Fernando Presby-tery who has done eleven of them. My f riend and neigh-bor Tom Erickson has been an interim pastor f ive t imes, in Mission Viejo, Washington D.C. , Kansas City, Placentia, and Tustin. And that’s after he retired!

One of the main tasks of the Transitional Pastor is to hop on a moving train which has been barreling forward for weeks, months, years… and just sort of f igure out what has been go-ing on, who is who, and what are the strengths and soft spots. It reminds me of that great quote f rom Mahatma Gandhi,

“There go my people.I must hurry to catch up to

them for I am their leader.”

Well, Arcadia Community Church, it is an impressively fo-cused express, indeed. We are fortunate to have a solid session of elders, a well-oiled staff team, and a congregation which shows a loving, caring, visionary outlook.

So, my job is to get on board with all of that, steer it a bit, and help us learn together where we have been and where we want to go, with God’s sovereignty, into the future.

I really want to meet you, and hear your dreams and visions for the future of Arcadia Com-munity Church. Please come to one of the “Conversations With Pastor Larry” one-hour events. Erin Cruz will be scheduling those starting very soon. Pray for your session and staff and all of our leaders as we begin to do the vision studies and selection processes which will lead, all in good time, to the formation of a Pastor Nominating Committee, a Mission Information Form (the church’s “resumé”) and as you begin the search process which will, in God’s good time, lead you to a person to be called as your next installed pastor.

God bless us all in this time together.

- Pastor Larry Ballenger

Interim Pastor Rev. Larry BallengerFamily Ministry Sam Knottnerus Youth Ministry Andrew RitiauChildren’s Ministry Alison De SurraOperations Manager Sonja WoosleyOffice Manager Erin CruzAccountant Dede SchneiderAdministrative Assistant Alma DiazPreschool Director Billie TurnerPreschool Admin. Assistant Joanna RodriguezMusic Conservatory Christina LiuWorship/Graphic Design Shawn HalimVideo Amir AbdelmalekSound Shady AbdouCustodians Andrew Tirtasamudra Sarah Tithof

Arcadia Community ChurchTel (626)445-7470 | Fax (626)445-6071

www.arcadia.church

Arcadia Community PicnicSunday, May 5th after church at the Arcadia Park Oak Tree Picnic AreaMark it on your calendar and invite your f riends and neighbors. There wil l be lots of fun and games for kids of al l ages! Bring your favorite ethnic dish to share. This is going to be a great t ime of fel lowship for everybody in the Arcadia Community family!

Vacation Bible School 2019Monday, July 15 - Friday, July 19 f rom 3-6pmRegistration for VBS 2019 is now l ive! Visit the church website to register and pay online. I f you have any questions or are interested in volunteering, please contact Al ison De Surra at al ison@arcadia.church.