updated April 8, 2023
On Sunday, November 5th of 2023, Pastor Steve Chang and the Elders announced that Living Hope would be entering a season of senior pastor succession. The 12-18 month process will require praying, listening/discerning, and searching for the next senior pastor who will lead our congregation. In God’s timing, Living Hope’s congregation will affirm and subsequently install our next senior pastor.
Here some important updates:
1. Pray with us
The Elder Board invites you to come and pray. During this time of transition, let's gather to pray for God's blessing, discernment, guidance, and clarity. Please look out for announcements regarding time and location.
2. Teams
Please continue to pray for our succession working teams (Prayer Team and Search Team), as they assist our Elder Board and our congregation during our Senior Pastor succession process. The Transition Team will be formed in the latter half of 2024.
3. Announcement, timeline, and FAQ
Watch the Announcement by Pastor Steve Chang & Elder David Park
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: Why is Pastor Steve stepping down?
Pastor Steve is not stepping down for any moral, medical, or relational reasons. Pastor Steve felt that he could serve Living Hope and the broader church better by allowing space for a younger leader to step in and for him to pursue his fourth quarter calling to serve other churches and pastors. We agreed as elders.
Question: When will the succession process take place?
We hope it will take about a year for God to lead us to our next leader.
Question: Who will be the next pastor?
We don’t know yet. We are about to finalize our next senior pastor profile which will be published as soon as when we commence our pastoral search. We thank the congregation for praying and participating in our focus groups. This truly helped create a very important guide for the Search Team and our search firm (Agora).
Question: Who will choose the next pastor?
The pastoral search will officially start on Tuesday, May 14th, 2024. The Elder Board will make a church-wide announcement and update the congregation with details on Sunday, May 12th. We have retained the services of a search firm (Agora) that will help our Search Team vet the candidates. The final candidate will be nominated by the Elder Board to the congregation. Per our bylaws, our next senior pastor must obtain 2/3 positive affirmation vote from the congregation. Thus, the final decision sits with the members of Living Hope.
Question: How can I suggest a potential candidate?
During our church-wide announcement on Sunday, May 12th, we will explain the process through which candidates can apply.
Question: How will the search team be selected?
We thank our members for participating in this important process. The Search Team has been formed and has begun its task in assisting the Elder Board in the next phase of our Senior Pastor succession.
Question: How can members share opinions or thoughts during this process?
Please feel free to approach any of the elders or Pastor Steve with questions or thoughts. You may also email any one of us. Some responses may take some time, as thoughts and action plans are being developed.
Question: What will happen to the rest of the staff, elders, and deacons after the new senior pastor starts?
We anticipate that our leaders will keep serving our church and mission into the future.
Question: Will we join a denomination with the new senior pastor?
We are a non-denominational church at this time. We anticipate that this will continue into the foreseeable future.