Transition and Senior Minister Search Committee

 

On Sunday afternoon, September 23, 2012, the Lake Street Church congregation called the Reverend A. Stephen (“Steve”) Van Kuiken to serve as our next Senior Minister, and Steve answered the call.  Following a warm congregational welcome for Steve in MacLeish Hall, everyone present gathered in a circle, holding hands and singing “Weave Us Together.”  Steve’s start date at LSC will be in January 2013, to give both his home congregation and LSC time to prepare for the transition.

  

Steve is currently serving as pastor of Rincon United Church of Christ (UCC) in Tucson, Arizona.  He is in his early 50s, and has served in four Presbyterian churches and two UCC congregations – a total of 27 years - since earning his BA from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and his Master of Divinity degree from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.  He comes to us with his wife Jenn Hackman and their 22-month-old daughter Isa.  He is also the proud father of two young-adult children, Hannah and Aaron, who live in the Midwest.

 

Before Steve was called, a four-day weekend of hospitality events beginning on Thursday, September 20, allowed Steve and the congregation to become personally acquainted and find points of connection on LSC core values, including soul liberty, pastoral care, programs for children and youth, interfaith, and social justice.  Steve preached the Sunday morning sermon called “Becoming Ourselves,” and hosted a sermon talkback and Q&A, after which the special congregational vote-to-call meeting was held in the Sanctuary presided over by Co-Moderators Jane Tufts and John Heimbaugh.

 

A special transition committee called the Planning & Welcoming committee (“P&W”) will lead the congregation in planning for welcoming, orienting, and integrating Steve, Jenn & Isa into church life.  The Senior Minister Search Committee (SMSC), consisting of Carol Lauhon, Chair; Gordy Hazen, Secretary; Richard Barnes, Paula Fitzgibbons, Susan Larson, Liz Napier Martin and Laura Beth Nielsen, held its final meeting on September 24, 2012 to complete the Search Process Summary Report for the church records.

 

 

Find "Living Out Our Covenant: A Video Portrait of Lake Street Church" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h613m4QAkxM&feature=youtu.be