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Letter from Dave Crow

Dear Friends,
I have now been with you for almost six months. I have often said that I appreciate the chance to
be with and to work with you folks. Even as I say that, many of you have heard the announcement that Presbytery
will be looking for someone to replace me as a 2/3 time Stated Supply Pastor by the end of this
calendar year or shortly thereafter.

You may wonder what that means. Let me try to explain. I will begin with the easy part first.

The Presbytery considers 50 hours per week as a full-time position. Because of the current deficit in the budget,
the Session felt that First Presbyterian Church of Cottage Grove might do well to look at a 2/3 time pastor
and the consequent 2/3 budget cost for a pastor for the near future.

You may wonder what a Stated Supply Pastor is, and what he or she does. I am currently serving as a
half-time Stated Supply Pastor. I seek to do most of the functions of a pastor and to help the congregation
begin to prepare for calling a new Called and Installed Pastor.

How do you get a Stated Supply Pastor? Presbytery will submit about three names
of people willing to be considered for a 2/3 time position and who Presbytery deems would be a good
fit for this congregation. The Session would name a committee to interview the candidates and to
determine which one to recommend to the Session for employment as your
new Stated Supply Pastor. If the interview committee feels that none of the interviewees is
correct for this church, then the Presbytery would be asked to provide some more names.

Once the correct person has been selected by the interview committee, the interview
committee would recommend that Session employ the person on an annual contract,
which would include a 30 to 60 day termination clause if either the church or the pastor
feels the situation is not working well. That whole process could work very rapidly. Your new
Stated Supply Pastor would continue to work with you to help prepare
the ground for a new “permanent” Called and Installed Pastor (one serving as Hugh Peniston and
|Ben Dake did, hopefully for a good long time). The Stated Supply Pastor would serve
very much as I have, but in this case, it could be a person whose annual contract
might be renewed several times if all things are working well in the church. In fact, it is not
unusual to find smaller churches served year after year by the same Stated Supply Pastor.

The primary difference between an Interim Pastor and a Stated Supply is that an Interim
Pastor is called to fulfill certain responsibilities, and then, after one, perhaps two renewed
contracts must move on making way for the new Called and Installed Pastor.

I believe that the Session felt that a Stated Supply would work well for this church
because it may take some extended time to develop the church to the point that a new
full-time Called and Installed Pastor could be called. The chance for several annual
renewals for a Stated Supply would mean that your next pastor could be here for more than the
few months that I have been with you. Another reason, and, perhaps as important is the first, a
new Stated Supply Pastor could be in place relatively soon, and that
relationship could be continued for several years, if deemed appropriate, while the long,
hard work of a Mission Study and the often lengthy process of seeking a
Called and Installed Pastor could be completed at a bit more leisurely pace.

Some of you may wonder, “Why is Dave Crow ready to leave when he has only
served here for a few months?” My answer to that is that I came to serve in a time of
crisis and uncertainty, and understood that I would be here for a relatively short time.
I have been retired for more than five years and was mostly content with that status!
At the same time, if I could be of any help to this church in a tumultuous and
difficult time — if my experience could be of any help in a church recovering
from sexual misconduct — I wanted to help in that process.

I do not want anyone to think that the end of 2008 is an absolute deadline and that I will
be out of here at that time, no matter what. If at all possible, I want this church to
have a Stated Supply Pastor who is enthusiastically endorsed by the Session
ready to begin ministry with you before I depart.

If all of this raises more questions in your mind than it answers,
please do not hesitate to ask me for more clarification.
Thank you very much for this very special opportunity to minister
among you. It has been a blessing in my life. Earlier in my ministry, I would have loved to
have served a church like this as its Called and Installed Pastor. Even as I write that,
let me assure you I really do look forward to another couple of months
(more or less) of work with and among you.
Grace and peace, Dave Crow, Stated Supply Pastor