St. Stephens - Bethlehem
United Church of Christ
750 Wehrle Drive * Buffalo, N.Y. 14225 * (716) 632.4226
November 23, 2015
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As we approach the holidays and reflect upon all the things for which we are
thankful, our Search Team is most excited to add one more item to our list of
blessings. After ten months of working together and prayerfully deliberating, we
have selected a candidate to strongly recommend as our next pastor, pending
congregational approval, of course!
The Discernment Process
All in all we reviewed twenty UCC Ministerial Profiles, asked nine candidates to
send video sermon links, interviewed four candidates (two locally and two via
Skype), and interviewed one of the candidates a second time. It was clear that the
Divine had intervened! The second interview was amazing and we unanimously
agreed that God was calling this candidate to St. Stephens-Bethlehem and us to
her! Our work continued as our entire team went to a neutral pulpit to hear her
preach and finally checked references. It is therefore, with great pleasure and
excitement, that we present Sara E. Campbell as our candidate to be minister of
our church.
Introducing Sara
Sara is a young, highly intelligent, vibrant, caring, compassionate preacher who
loves God, her family, and daily interactions with the people at church. She will
bring many gifts to St. Stephens-Bethlehem, including her love of preaching and
pastoral care, her skills as a non-anxious listener and a delightful sense of humor,
that we are confident will help revitalize our congregation.
A recent graduate of Colgate Rochester Crozier Divinity School, Sara earned her
Masters Degree in Divinity while serving with the Buffalo Peacemakers as a
ministerial intern. This past year she served a church in Rochester as Student
Minister, where she gained valuable experience preaching, teaching, providing
pastoral care, working with a team to develop and implement a weekly evening
_____________________________________________________________
“No matter who you are, and no matter where you are on life’s journey…
you are welcome here!”
[email protected]
contemporary service, and leading a weekly “coffee shop” Bible study for young
adults.
Although our church will be her first call as a settled pastor, Sara has been a
member in discernment these past four years at Nativity UCC in Kenmore, where
she assumed multiple leadership roles, from preaching and planning worship to
teaching confirmation and serving on committees. Additionally, this summer she
served as Supply Pastor at Arcade UCC, where she is loved by the congregation.
Sara has lived all over this country, completing her undergraduate degree in
Arizona. Additionally, she has traveled extensively, working in the Peace Corps
for 2 years in Prague, Czech Republic. Sara loves to read theology and is an avid
biker, completing a multi-day bike trip last year from Kansas City, MO to St Louis,
MO. She also loves to camp, rock climb, and play softball. Sara lives in
Tonawanda with her wife, Jeannine and sons, Steven (4) and newborn, Jeremiah
who was just born November 13th!
Candidate’s Weekend
The members of our Search Team look forward to talking with you about our
joyful interactions with Sara and cordially invite you to participate in the
Candidate’s Weekend, December 19 and 20th, 2015.
Saturday, December 19th
10:00AM - Noon Coffee Hour for Ministry Team Leaders & Sara
3:00PM - 5:00PM Reception for Entire Congregation to Meet Sara &
Jeannine in SSBUCC Social Hall
5:00 PM-7:00PM All Church Dinner with Sara & her family
Sunday, December 20th
10:00 AM – Worship Service with Sara preaching; Following the service, a
congregational meeting will be held to hear the report of our Search Team, discuss
the terms of the Call Agreement, and vote on the recommendation to call Sara E.
Campbell as our new pastor.
Help us extend an extravagant welcome to Sara and her family!
Assuming a positive vote, it is our hope that Sara will start with us January 4 th. Our
Search Team is planning several small group opportunities during the first few
months Sara is with us to help you get to know Sara and for Sara to get to know as
many members as possible.
If you would be interested in hosting an informal “Meet and Greet Sara” any time
(morning, noon or night!), any place away from church (your home, a community
_____________________________________________________________
“No matter who you are, and no matter where you are on life’s journey…
you are welcome here!”
[email protected]
room, local coffee shop or restaurant), please call the church office at 632-4226.
Search team member, Cheryl Thomas, will then get in touch with you to coordinate
the details. The schedule of Socials for Sara will then be published in the January
Sojourner.
God Guiding the Way
We truly believe that God has led us to this exciting moment in our church’s
ministry and so does Sara. She is very excited about the prospect of joining St.
Stephens- Bethlehem and is looking forward to Candidate’s Weekend and getting
to know and love every member of the congregation.
We look forward to growing together as a faith community, serving our members,
reaching out to others and proclaiming the good news of God’s love with Sara as
our pastor. Thank you for the privilege you have given us to serve St. StephensBethlehem. We hope you will make every effort to join us for Candidate’s
Weekend.
Faithfully,
The Search Team
Brett Hammond
George Anderson
Roger Firestien
John Frenning
Sandy Berger
Mary Chotoff
Marta Herzbrun
Cheryl Thomas
_____________________________________________________________
“No matter who you are, and no matter where you are on life’s journey…
you are welcome here!”
[email protected]