It is with great joy that I write this article. The Lord has blessed the church at Walter Hill beyond measure, praise the name of the Lord. He has blessed us with unity, stability, and spiritual growth as Paul has ministered to us these past 25 years.
The Lord has also blessed us with very sound minister candidates to choose from to replace Paul as he semi-retires and moves to an associate minister position. I want to assure you, each of the candidates have been vetted. They each had to submit written answers to biblical questions, face a panel interview of committee members, pass a background check, face an elder interview, and a follow-up interaction review with the elders.
Each of you have had the opportunity to hear each of these men speak, there have been no negative comments about the content of doctrine from their sermons. This demonstrates the process is working. It is the number one priority of the elders to hire a minister who is sound in biblical doctrine. This is where unity comes into play. If all the candidates are sound, it becomes an issue of who we feel best fits with the Walter Hill “culture.” We realize the church is made of Christians from many different backgrounds, social-economic conditions, past experiences and everyone has an opinion and preference. I assure you the elders are very mindful of this.
As we move forward, please pray for unity, the elders, and the decisions that are to be made.