Leadership transition Updates
Check back for monthly updates!
March 1st, 2026
Dear New Life Community Church,
The NLCC Board is so grateful for you and for your continued presence and participation at our church. We are grateful to God for his guidance and wisdom as we have navigated these last several months and for His continued provision of health and strength for NLCC. Thank you for your continued patience as we have been working through many things. We hope that today’s update will be helpful and add clarity, and we are excited to invite you to continue to partner with us as we seek God’s plans for the next season for our church.
As we began 2026 we knew it was a big year ahead. With the vacancy left by Pastor Juno, our church is in need of a new Lead Pastor. We do not want to hastily hire a replacement, rather we desire to take time to evaluate what we have learned through this recent experience and seek God’s wisdom and direction for next steps. In order to do this with excellence, we have engaged a consultant who is assisting us and our pastoral team as we complete a holistic assessment of the current state of our pastoral structure and the role requirements of a lead pastor.
While we, the Board, carry the responsibility to see this work through, we acknowledge that we are all in this together as one church community, one family, and that together we are praying for God’s work at NLCC. In the coming months we hope to invite you to join us for a few opportunities of focused prayer time as we seek God’s will for NLCC.
In the last couple months the Board has been working with our pastoral team and with our consultant, and together we have created a plan of action. Today we want to share this plan with you.
The NLCC Board is so grateful for you and for your continued presence and participation at our church. We are grateful to God for his guidance and wisdom as we have navigated these last several months and for His continued provision of health and strength for NLCC. Thank you for your continued patience as we have been working through many things. We hope that today’s update will be helpful and add clarity, and we are excited to invite you to continue to partner with us as we seek God’s plans for the next season for our church.
As we began 2026 we knew it was a big year ahead. With the vacancy left by Pastor Juno, our church is in need of a new Lead Pastor. We do not want to hastily hire a replacement, rather we desire to take time to evaluate what we have learned through this recent experience and seek God’s wisdom and direction for next steps. In order to do this with excellence, we have engaged a consultant who is assisting us and our pastoral team as we complete a holistic assessment of the current state of our pastoral structure and the role requirements of a lead pastor.
While we, the Board, carry the responsibility to see this work through, we acknowledge that we are all in this together as one church community, one family, and that together we are praying for God’s work at NLCC. In the coming months we hope to invite you to join us for a few opportunities of focused prayer time as we seek God’s will for NLCC.
In the last couple months the Board has been working with our pastoral team and with our consultant, and together we have created a plan of action. Today we want to share this plan with you.
Our plan includes 4 main components, and we anticipate taking the next several months to work on these. The key components are:
Assessing and Improving Staff Structure and Function
Clarifying Board Role, Responsibilities, and Bylaws
Completing a Lead Pastor Search Process
Strengthening Board, Staff, and Congregational Communication and Collaboration
During this transitional season, the Board has asked Pastor Ryan to take on an expanded role and to oversee the day-to-day operations of NLCC. We are grateful to share with you that he has agreed to lead and care for our Pastoral Staff, to meet with the Board regularly, and to keep the church running smoothly. He will continue to serve as our Associate Pastor, alongside this expanded role.
Over the last few months we have begun work on assessing and improving overall staff structure and function, clarifying board roles/responsibilities, and communication, and we are beginning conversations about what our Lead Pastor Search Process will entail. We believe it is in the best interest of NLCC to have a position posted publicly and to put top internal and external candidates through an intentional process in order to find God’s Leader for NLCC.
As a Board we continue to meet regularly, typically twice per month, in addition to working on items between meetings in our efforts to care for and support NLCC. We appreciate your prayers, support and feedback.
Over the last few months we have begun work on assessing and improving overall staff structure and function, clarifying board roles/responsibilities, and communication, and we are beginning conversations about what our Lead Pastor Search Process will entail. We believe it is in the best interest of NLCC to have a position posted publicly and to put top internal and external candidates through an intentional process in order to find God’s Leader for NLCC.
As a Board we continue to meet regularly, typically twice per month, in addition to working on items between meetings in our efforts to care for and support NLCC. We appreciate your prayers, support and feedback.
As always, you are welcome to email us your thoughts at board@nl-cc.org.
Blessings,
Your NLCC Board
Annie Petteys, Rachel Nguyen, Jim Keating, Raymond Kim, Steve Vernon, Wes Freitas