Search Process

The members of the Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC) were proposed by Session and elected by the Congregation on July 9, 2023. Over the course of ten months, we met weekly on Sunday mornings before worship, and often more than weekly. We opened and closed our meetings in prayer.

We received training from the Presbytery in early September. During the balance of September and October we drafted a Ministry Discernment Profile (MDP). The MDP is a detailed description of our church, its mission and the attributes of our ideal candidate. Much of the content was based on the 2023 Mission Refresh. After the MDP was approved by Session and the Presbytery later that Fall, it was then distributed through multiple channels over the holidays to formally kick off the search and discernment process.

We sought candidates in three ways. We reached out to our WPC network of pastors and lay leaders, enrolled in the Presbytery web-based pastor search system, and engaged a national search consultant. We reviewed well over 100 resumes from candidates throughout the country. We used Zoom to conduct extensive first and second interviews with a number of candidates in March and April, and we selected three outstanding finalists for in-person visits here in Wayne during the first three weeks of May.

At the end of May at a special meeting of the PNC, we voted unanimously to nominate Rev. Ryan Balsan as our new Senior Pastor and Head of Staff.

We believed from the outset, that our task was to prayerfully follow God’s lead throughout this process. We are thrilled that God, in his own time, has revealed to us a good and faithful servant to lead Wayne Presbyterian Church into our next chapter of ministry. We are grateful to all who encouraged us and prayed for us throughout the process. We are especially grateful to Buff Barnes who joined us on occasion to facilitate special prayer and discernment meetings at key junctions as our work progressed.

PNC members: Sal Ambrosio, Chair, Martin Akram, Pam Clark, Clyde Diehl, Weezie Duff, Mike Dziedziak, Jennie Hagin, Wendy Norman, Kevin O'Nell, Sarah Ziegler

Updated 7/3/2024

PNC ANNOUNCEMENT JULY 3, 2024