Seeking Iron Works Church’s
Next Lead Pastor

The committee is excited to recommend Rev. Kent Woodrow for lead pastor of Iron Works. This nomination comes after several two-hour interviews with Kent and his wife; seven reference interviews; a visit from the PSC to Kent’s home church; and an undercover visit from the Woodrows to Iron Works which also included meetings with the pastoral search committee and their spouses, elders, deacons, and staff. The search committee is confident that Kent is the man God has chosen to lead Iron Works, but ultimately, it will be up to the congregation to vote on calling Kent after the service on April 14th.

Before you vote, get to know Kent by:

• reading about Kent through the candidate profile;

• meet the Woodrows personally with your home group (if you’re not a part of a home group, RSVP for the meet-up on April 6);

• ask your questions and share a meal with the Woodrows at the Q&A and Potluck dinner, April 6;

• Hear Kent preach during the service April 7.

And keep praying for Iron Works as we get to know the Woodrows as a congregation and deliberate on whether to call Kent as our next pastor.

What will happen next?

Members will vote on whether to call Kent at the congregational meeting on April 14th after the Sunday service. If Kent is called, he will then have to get approved by the presbytery—ideally, during the meeting scheduled for May. It is rare for the presbytery to deny a congregation’s calling, so we don’t anticipate this step to go wrong.

The Woodrows will begin the logistics of moving from their home in Staunton, Virginia to Phoenixville after the congregational calling. We expect this process to take several months, but hope to be receiving the Woodrows by the end of the summer.

The committee has listened to hundreds of sermons, spent hours sleuthing out candidates’ web and social media presence, and carefully reviewed and thought through candidates’ paperwork.

We’re currently refining interview questions for initial interviews, which will begin in early November. The committee is still receiving and reviewing new candidates, so if you know someone who may be interested, connect them with MGI, the consultant we’re partnering with for this search.

You can:

• Give thanks for continued unity on the committee;

• Pray for continued humility for all committee members;

• And pray for the right candidate.

The committee has finished writing and editing the church and pastor profiles and is now distributing them to presbyteries, seminaries, and other locations. Do you know someone who’s interested? Or someone who is well-connected? Pass the profiles on to them and let them know to apply on McGowan Global’s website.

As a church, we’ll gather on August 8 at 7p to pray specifically for God’s power and provision in our search for our next lead pastor and give thanks for all He has done in the life of this church.

The session and search committee will also share some information that came out of the Discovery Weekend back in April, and you’ll have an opportunity to ask any questions you have about the search process.

You can:

• Give thanks for the continued unity on the committee;

• Pray for continued humility for all committee members;

• And pray that the Lord would make the profiles we’ve created effective in communicating who we are as a church and whom he’s calling to lead us.Item description

The search process has four phases. We are currently in phase 1:

Organization - Analyze the foundational information of who Iron Works Church is and seek an outline for who God is calling to lead us.

Collection - Identify a wide number of vetted, eligible, and credible candidates for review by the committee. All candidates must apply exclusively on the MGI website.

Evaluation - Review promising candidates deeply, via application, recorded sermons, social media accounts, etc. In this phase we will also be interviewing candidates, and identifying final candidates.

Selection - In the final stage, a final candidate is invited to IWC to preach and meet the congregation. The congregation decides whether to extend a call.

The committee is currently gathering information to create important foundational materials: a church profile and a proposed pastor profile. Together, the committee has also prioritized specific, group prayer time. Our consultant also spent time with a large group of church members to help the committee understand the makeup and needs for our church.

Join us as we pray earnestly for the search to uncover the Lord's will for our future pastor, swiftly and clearly. Thank you!

You can pray:

For continued unity on the committee.

Humility for all committee members.

That the committee would be able to effectively and authentically communicate who we are as a church as we prepare to write the church and pastor profile.

After the consultant we are working with, Dr. Case Thorp, conducted extensive interviews with church officers, staff, and other leaders, he met with a group of IWC attenders for a day’s worth of workshops to understand where our church is at and where we would like to be headed.

He’ll be using all this information to produce a report that will help the search committee write the pastor and church profiles—a splashy document that communicates to potential candidates who we are and what we’re looking for in our next pastor.

After a month of nominations, the Session recommended a slate of candidates to the congregation. The congregation approved them, and the pastoral search committee was formed. Members of the committee are:

Teresa Wagner, Stefany Gess, Jed Quinn, Jeff Rucinski, Craig Newcomb, Paul Frick, Josh Olson, Josh Sawyer, Patty Yodis, Laura Williams, Amanda Gotwals , and Maggie Aquaro.

You can connect with the committee via search@ironworkschurch.org.