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Congregational Meeting
November 22, 2020
Call Packet for Associate Pastor Rev. Megan Hamilton McMillan
A Letter to the members of First Presbyterian Church - St. Petersburg
From the members of your Associate Pastor Nominating Committee: Al May (chair), Bill Burtchaell, Jim Garnett, April Hussung, Taina Specie, Don Zegel
Your Associate Pastor Nominating (Search) Committee is thrilled to present Reverend Megan Hamilton McMillan as our candidate for the position of Associate Pastor.
Our recommendation comes after a fourteen-month, spirit-led process of discernment during which we sought an Associate Pastor who could best serve our church. After examining the credentials of 57 potential candidates, soliciting candidates from eight leading Presbyterian seminaries, interviewing five finalists (3 men and 2 women) more than once, hearing and assessing multiple sermons from each finalist, conducting extensive reference checks about previous performance, and praying for guidance from the Holy Spirit, we believe God has led us to Rev. McMillan. She possesses the faith, skills, experience, energy, and compassion to help lead our church in our period of renewal and revitalization.
Megan possesses the qualities we deemed most important, as expressed in the Ministry Information Form: strong preaching and teaching skills, a compassionate and welcoming presence, the ability to connect with people of all ages and types, spiritual maturity, the ability to bring people together and make the most of their natural talents, and strong skills in managing through transition. And we were thrilled that, from our conversations with her, Megan made it clear that our church possesses qualities that she’d been seeking in her next position. Megan’s as excited about us as we are about her!
Megan captured our attention from the moment we read her Personal Information Form, which was the most articulate, engaging document we’d received. And when we met her, first via Zoom and later in person, we were immediately drawn to her warm and welcoming presence and her ability to connect with each one of us in a very sincere way. We could see first-hand why all of her previous head pastors and colleagues praised Megan’s ability to start and build relationships—one reference saying Megan was the best at relationships she had ever known in her extensive career. A former head pastor said that Megan connects well with others, even if they don’t share the same theological leanings. She cares about people and can identify with their feelings and needs. A former colleague told us that Megan is a welcoming and inviting type of person. She maintains relationships with all different kinds of people from different parts of her life and lives out her faith with those relationships.
Megan’s prior church employment as Director of Education, Children and Youth Ministries in one church and Director of Youth Ministries in another showed how well she relates to children, youth, young adults, and young families. The trust and relationships she built with youth and their families enabled Megan to build a youth program in her most recent church, involving youth in community outreach and Bible study. She even gave pastoral care to the youth and their families, even though that was not her official responsibility. But she relates well to seniors too. According to one former head pastor, Megan connected with seniors, some of whom thought of her as their daughter or granddaughter.
We observed four of Megan’s sermons preached via Zoom to the El Divino Salvador Presbyterian Church in Corpus Christi, Texas. Megan is a professional staff member at the Austin Theological Seminary, yet volunteered to preach each month to this small, bilingual congregation. Her sermons showed Biblical grounding, exacting preparation, relevance to today’s challenges, and were delivered with warmth and conviction. Megan is a true believer. God is front and center in her life, her choices, and her witness. One of her former head pastors said about her “Definitely she loves the Lord. There is nothing fake about Megan. She grew up in a strong faith background and reflects that.”
Megan has provided pastoral care in a variety of settings—to youth under her direction and their families, to staff and participants at a Presbyterian summer camp, to seminarians at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and to patients and staff of a medical surgery unit at a level 1 trauma hospital. Megan brings a genuine warmth and caring for people who need pastoral care. She is a good listener. Megan also brings substantial energy, enthusiasm, and organizational ability to her Christian life. Her previous head pastors and colleagues marveled at her ability to organize a Sunday school program for children or a youth program--not trying to do everything herself, but convincing others to become involved. These references also noted Megan’s teaching ability whether with youth Bible study or children’s church. She prepared thoroughly and made the instruction interesting and relevant.
In her Personal Information Form, Rev. McMillan listed the following leadership competencies as best describing her leadership traits: compassionate, preaching and worship leader, communicator, spiritual maturity, risk-taker, organizational agility, collaboration, interpersonal engagement, initiative, personal resilience, and flexibility. We find that these terms accurately describe Megan McMillan and make her a true fit for what our congregation needs now in an Associate Pastor.