Affirming a New Associate
On Sunday, July 12, Central will vote to affirm Rev. Adrienne Osborne as our new Associate Pastor of Community Life (working part-time at 20 hours a week). We invite you to Coffee Break on Sunday before Worship to get to know Adrienne. She will also introduce herself during Worship, and then will have many more opportunities following her affirmation to share more about herself.
But for now, know that Adrienne is a gifted minister. She previously served senior adults and offered pastoral care at First Baptist Church in Bristol, Tennessee before recently moving to Richmond. I recently called her pastor at FBC Bristol and asked about Adrienne. Not only did he give her a glowing recommendation, he encouraged us to call her as our Associate. “Adrienne is a gifted minister, and if you don’t hire her, someone else will,” he said. “But that would be a shame, because she is gifted and talented and will be such a good addition to your staff.”
Not only an effective and creative minister, Adrienne is also a gifted student. She is pursuing her Master of Divinity at McAfee School of Theology and has one more year of classes before graduating next spring. Last month, she was recognized at the General Assembly of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship as one of only two recipients of the esteemed Vestal scholarship, which recognizes students who demonstrate exceptional academic achievement and a deep commitment to both the local church and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (read more about the Vestal Scholarship here).
We are excited for the possibilities that this new hire will bring, but know that you probably have a few questions regarding this new staff hire. So, please read below so that you can come prepared to affirm Adrienne following Worship.
Central wasn’t advertising for this specific position, so why are we now hiring a Minister for Community Life?
The short answer is that we weren’t really aware we needed this position until we began conversations with Adrienne (you can read how we began conversations with Adrienne in the previous blog post here).
We were initially connected with Adrienne through Mark Snipes, Co-coordinator of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Virginia. Although the initial conversation was regarding our search for a Family Ministry Assistant, it quickly became apparent that Adrienne’s interests and gifts were for pastoral care and senior adults. But she was also creative and full of new ideas.
Through our our conversation, we realized that there were areas of leadership we were missing that she could help address. It was clear that if hired, she would be a team player who could serve in this particular area while also seeing it as a larger part of our ongoing calling and vision, which is why she is coming on as a true “Associate Pastor.”
Don’t we already have ministers doing pastoral care? Why do we need more?
Yes, we do! Currently, John White is our Associate Minister of Worship and Pastoral Care. However, there are multiple reasons why we need to hire an additional staff member to oversee this area.
Although there are no definitive plans in place yet, John is hoping to retire within the next year (or at least significantly cut back on his responsibilities)and we will need to have someone take over his pastoral care responsibilities when he does. But pastoral care is a difficult ministry to jump into without knowing the church. Members typically want to receive care by someone they already know, love, and trust. With Adrienne coming onto staff now, she is able to spend the necessary time getting to know the congregation so that once John has retired, she will be someone that you know and trust to give you support.
As a part of our Rightsizing Workgroup initiatives, we hope to reevaluate our current pastoral care policies and restructure the diaconate so that it can more efficiently and effectively serve the various needs of the congregation. Adrienne won’t simply pick up the current responsibilities of Pastoral Care but will also help us think about ways to improve and enhance the work that we do. In addition, she will help our deacons as they evaluate and potentially change their current structure to better serve the congregation. Having two ministers serving pastoral care will allow us to maintain the work we’ve been doing while also creating something new and improved.
Central will need extra support during Justin’s paternity leave. Justin will take three weeks to completely unplug once the baby is born. Following those three weeks, he will begin working in a hybrid structure for a few weeks, partially from home and sometimes in the office. During this period, Adrienne will be preaching for four weeks (other four weeks still to be determined) and helping to maintain a sense of consistency and presence within the office.
Are we still hiring a Family Ministry Assistant, or is Adrienne also covering these responsibilities?
Yes, we are still hiring! While Adrienne will be helpful in the immediate future, giving Justin another staff member who is able to help with family ministry, this is only a temporary measure. Because Adrienne will specifically be serving the pastoral care needs of the church, and we want to be sure not to over exert her (she is still taking seminary classes by the way), Central will still need to hire someone in a part-time capacity to help serve the needs of family ministry.
If you have other questions you’d like answered before Sunday, please contact us and we will be happy to talk further. The Personnel Team is excited to recommend Adrienne and hopes you too will affirm this exciting new chapter for Central, so please plan to attend worship in the sanctuary this Sunday at 11am.