CCO Senior pastor transition

Last October Pastor Lance Ralston announced his pending retirement as Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Oxnard after 40+ years of faithful and devoted service to the church. The plan is to hire a new lead pastor for CCO within the next 1 to 2 years. Currently, CCO has gathered a team, called ‘Transition Working Group’ (TWG) to produce and implement the means to seek and hire a new lead pastor for Calvary Chapel Oxnard. We are anticipating in early March 2024 to post the position publicly. Will you be praying that our Lord Jesus will give wisdom, counsel, and guidance in the selection process? We are trusting that our Lord Jesus will continue to receive glory and to bless Calvary Chapel Oxnard, His church as He says in His Word.

MISSION & VISION OF THE TRANSITION TEAM

Mission • (1) Develop a process to locate, select, hire, and nurture God’s choice for a senior pastor to lead CCO in the future. (2) Faithfully execute the process to obtain a smooth, effective, and efficient transition.

Vision • The selected candidate is successful in leading, feeding, and protecting CCO according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He is a leader recognized for getting right results, seeing that God is glorified, and that the CCO congregation is enriched by selecting the man God chooses to succeed Pastor Lance.

Organizing Principle 

"Recruiting the Senior Pastor God chooses for CCO and help him succeed."

STATUS UPDATES
8-5-2024 • To date the transition team have completed the second round of interviews and are entering the third and final round. We would like to share with you the timeline of the transition working group that began last November 2023 including the future milestones for the pastor search.

November 2023:
• Finalization of the transition team and the creation of the planning process. The team met and began to place together the criteria for the new senior pastor.

February 2024:
• The senior pastor ministry position job post was opened with CCO beginning the search for potential candidates and accepting applications.

March-April 2024:
• Transition working group performed the review and evaluation of the applicants based on the biblical standards and CCO’s by-laws performing first level interviews.

April 2024:
• The senior pastor ministry posting for the senior pastor closes and the initial reviews and interviews are completed.

May/June 2024:
• The second round begins for the 5 candidates who have moved forward including review, evaluation, and reference checks.

July 2024:
• Second round interviews are performed as the pool of candidates are narrowed down to 3 candidates.

August 2024:
• Third round of interviews for the remainder 3 candidates is initiated.
• The TWG, transition working group makes their final selection from the candidate pool and prepares to present the final candidate to the CCO Board of Elders.

September 2024:
• The Board of Elders vote on the final candidate.
• The selected candidate obtains hiring approval from the Elders
• Selected candidate visits CCO and a contingent offer is made.
• The Elder approved candidate is presented to the Calvary Chapel Oxnard membership for approval by a ¾ CCO membership vote of those who are present during the congregational meeting.
• Congregation, staff, business board, are informed of the new senior pastor.

September-December 2024:
• Transition of the new senior pastor with the support of CCO member, staff, elders, and Pastor Lance.
Calvary Oxnard faith Statements

for more information:

email pastoral search team

tRANSITION wORKING gROUP:

Leader, Larry Sagely
Assistant, Jerie Sagely
Don Baughn
Bernadette Borcena
Clarivel Dinh
Sharon Johnson
Jerry Ochoa
John Parra
Eric Robbins
Todd Robinson
John Still
Richard Trejo
Omar Velasco
Dave Young

Frequently aSKED qUESTIONS:

Where did you look for the outside candidates? Where were they sourced?
Pastor Lance contacted every Calvary Chapel Senior Pastor in the world (about 2,000 in number) via their unique email list server. Then we followed up by calling the leaders of the most influential and “connected” Calvary Chapel churches and ministries across the nation. Finally, written correspondence reached even a little wider within the Calvary Chapel movement.

How many people applied for the Lead Pastor role?
14 total have applied

What was required in the application?
Approximately 18 pages of information about their theology, personal background, work & ministry history, 8 references, etc.

What were some of the criteria you were looking for?
The TWG created a list of 40 attributes as part of an “Ideal Candidate Profile” which includes requirements for personal character, leadership skills, and spiritual maturity.

How many interviews with the candidates did you conduct?
Three long-form interviews, plus a separate interview with each finalist’s wife.

Who are the final candidates?
We believe it is best for the candidates to share their status as they see fit.

Is the New Lead Pastor going to be one of our current pastors or someone from outside CCO?
We are still waiting for the Holy Spirit to show us.

What changes will the new Pastor make at CCO?
We don’t know, but if we have chosen the right man, everything will work out well.

How did the TWG members get chosen?
In September 2023 Pastor Lance called a meeting with about 60 CCO members to officially announce his plans to retire from his Lead Pastor role. Each attendee was asked to nominate two people to be on the TWG. From these ballots, Pastor Lance and Larry Sagely selected the twelve TWG voting members.

Why should I have confidence that you have selected the right Senior Pastor?
We believe that the Lord has put together a dedicated group of people that have bathed this work with prayer at every turn. We trust Him for the result.

Will there be a congregational vote like we do for the elders, and if so, what will that look like?
Yes, after the CCO Elders have made their selection, the candidate will be brought before the congregation for the CCO members to ratify.

When are we going to know who has been chosen?
We will announce an all-member meeting several weeks in advance. On that day, the Elders will share with you who they have selected and ask the members for their vote. Most likely, this meeting will be during one of our Sunday morning services.

I come to CCO because of Lance’s teaching, why should I stay?
We encourage you to let the Lord to lead you in this decision. Our new pastor will certainly differ from Lance in style, but rest assured, he will be an excellent teacher, and the Holy Spirit will use him to speak to you. Additionally, his leadership will continue to enable you to live well within our church community, the body of Christ.

Will Lance & Lynn Ralston be able to stay at CCO?
Yes. Lance and Lynn wish to stay at CCO and continue to be part of our church family! Additionally, all finalists have expressed their desire for the Ralstons to remain at CCO.

Will Pastor Lance be taken care of after he steps down?
Pastor Lance has participated in our 403(b) retirement savings plan where we provided matching funds for him. Additionally, the Elders will designate him as a Pastor Emeritus and will certainly be giving him a significant gift of thanks.

What are the next steps in the process?
Next, the interview team will present their findings to the whole TWG. Then the TWG’s recommendation will be presented to the Elders. Upon evaluation, prayer, and fasting the Elders will make the offer to their chosen candidate contingent upon the congregation’s ratification. Finally, the congregation will vote to approve or disapprove.

tEAMS & lEADS: 

Prayer & Hospitality—Suzanne Still
· Have prayer warriors group pray fervently, effectively, & regularly
· Advise Lead of words from the Lord

Candidate Sources Identification & Funding—Eric Robbins
· Identify/develop sources
· Obtain CCO financing for search & mentoring

Candidate Contacts—Dave Young
· Finalize screening criteria
· Invite best candidates to CCO for testing & TWG interviews

Candidate Screening—Sharon Johnson
· Interviewing, reference checks, testing, etc.
· Refer best candidate for review and approval

Approvals & Offer—Jerry Ochoa
· Obtain necessary approvals
· Present final candidate and make offer

New Hire Mentoring & Development— Richard Trejo
· Coach new hire & 30-day transition with Lance
· Build connections with CCO members