Faith Family—

For the last year, our church has been praying and discerning who God is calling next to shepherd Faith Church. We have seen God’s hand at work in and through people in this discovery process. A lot of behind the scenes work and conversations have been happening over the past few weeks with the Discovery Team and full consistory. And now we are excited to introduce to you Pastor Thomas Kunkel, his wife Sandra, and their son Calvin!

At the consistory meeting held on Monday, October 28, 2024, full consistory unanimously voted to approve the recommendation of Pastor Thomas Kunkel as our next lead pastor to the congregation. A prayer of unity has been on the forefront of yours and our prayer list and to see God answer it so clearly, we can’t help but praise Him!

Here’s a timeline of what’s next:

1. First in the attachment you will find a letter from Pastor Thomas to you as the congregation, his candidate profile that the Discovery Team received, and a letter of recommendation from the Discovery Team to the consistory. This packet of information contains a lot great insight into who Pastor Thomas is, a link to his sermons (https://www.youtube.com/@e412project), and his love for the Lord.

2. Sunday, November 10 Pastor Thomas and his family will be at Faith to preach. We will have one service at 8:30am that day! There will be a Q&A time from 9:30-10:30am in the sanctuary for you to meet Pastor Thomas, to get to know him better and to answer any questions you have. He will then leave shortly afterwards to attend the Lighthouse. There will NOT be Sunday School that day. However, for those with kids 5th grade and below, there will be a Thanksgiving lesson and craft in the basement led by high school students—more details to come on that!

3. Sunday, November 17 we will again have one service at 8:30am. There will be Sunday School at the normal time. But at the 10:45 service time slot, we will hold our annual congregational meeting where we elect elders and deacons AND there will be a vote of affirmation to formally extend a call to Pastor Thomas Kunkel. This vote acts as a guidance vote to the full consistory when considering Pastor Thomas as our next lead pastor. Please plan to attend this pivotal moment in the life of Faith Church. If you’re unable to attend, absentee ballots will be made available once we are aware who is up for elders and deacons.

We are excited to be at this point in the discovery process! If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to seek someone out on consistory. They would be happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you, Faith Church, for prayerfully walking alongside the Discovery Team and the consistory during this past year.

Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow!

Bruce Van Kekerix

Al Vermeer

Scott Witte

Phil Kooistra

Scott Kooima

Michael Ten Clay