Staffing Changes at The River

Dear River Family,

As you know, in late February, I asked you to prayerfully consider your financial investment in The River and to indicate your response through giving during the month of March.  I have been so encouraged and grateful for your response as we experienced a significant boost in giving for several weeks in February and March.

The increase in giving has allowed us to avoid even more significant cuts, but we have determined that some cuts are necessary.  Any cut like this is painful, because it directly affects valued partners and friends.  We have a sense, however, that this change is part of something God is doing in our midst to bring us back to one of the founding core values of the church, “Every Member a Minister.”

On Tuesday morning, we communicated these decisions to our staff:

  • Donna Miles’ position as our receptionist and office manager will be eliminated as of May 1, 2009.  We will no longer have a front-door or phone attendant after May 1.
  • Dave Kwok’s position as Director of Operations will be reduced to a half-time position as of September 1, 2009
  • Krista-Dawn Kimsey’s position as Celebration Ministries Pastor will be reduced to 75% time as of September 1, 2009.
  • Kyle Guerrero’s position as Student Ministries Director will be reduced to a half-time position as of September 1, 2009.  His position after September 1 will have an increased emphasis on volunteer recruitment, development, and leadership in the ministry.
  • Michelle Manley’s position as the Small Group ministries pastor will be transitioning to a Pastoral Specialist role as of September 1, 2009.  Michelle will continue to offer her pastoral gifts within the small group ministry but will no longer have responsibilities for the overall oversight of the ministry.  For the past six months, Mark Phifer-Houseman has led the small group staff team and will continue to do so through the transition.

All of these affected staff will receive the equivalent of full pay and benefits through August 31, 2009.

In addition to the changes above, several of our staff have taken voluntary pay reductions.

While these changes are necessary, they are painful for all of us and have been made after a long process of discernment and dialogue.  I want to encourage each of us to take seriously God’s call to us to be an “Acts 2” community in this time.  We are at our healthiest when we make our needs known and initiate to learn about and meet the needs of others.

We will be sending this information to The Reef’s distribution list on Thursday, but wanted to give the Leadership Community a few days to process it before it becomes more widely disseminated.

If you have questions about these decisions, please feel free to contact .

Peace,
Brad