We are thankful to announce that our very own Juli Dirks has accepted the new role of Executive Director of Ministries! In the wake of this news, here are 5 things we want you to know about Juli taking this new role:
Juli’s title will be Executive Director of Ministries
As the Executive Director of Ministries (XDM), Juli will help to communicate, mobilize, and implement the vision for our church as given by the Elders at Grace. Hers will be a vital role in bringing unity to the many ministries happening under the Grace Community Church umbrella. For more details on her specific job description, check out this page.
This has been a long, thorough process
Our elder board has been talking for years about an executive pastor, but the search began in earnest during fall 2017. Over the course of numerous months, the search team received many resumes and interviewed a number of candidates, but none of them felt like the right fit for one reason or another. Then, in fall 2018, the search team and the elders reevaluated our needs and felt God leading us to consider the possibility of an executive director. Once we expanded the search to include executive director candidates, we received 12 applications. From those 12, we identified and interviewed our top 3. From those, Juli clearly rose to the top. The search team then recommended Juli to the Elders, who had their own interview with her.
The Elders are unanimous in their support of this decision
After interviewing Juli, the Elders reached the joyful and unified conclusion to offer Juli the position of Executive Director of Ministries (which we are so thankful she accepted!). Through interviewing Juli, it became obvious to the Elders that she is gifted with organizational skills and that she has a humble servant’s heart. Hiring Juli for this position is the culmination of many hours of prayer and discussion, earnestly seeking God’s will for our church.
We believe God has called Juli to this position at this time in the life of our church
At the same time God was taking our church on a journey to be ready to receive Juli in this role, He was taking Juli on a journey to prepare her to take this role. Over the last 18 months, God has been revealing to Juli that He wants her to move from being a “manager of doers” to a “leader of leaders.” It wasn’t until one search team meeting when the question was raised, “Is there someone already in our church who God has gifted to fill this role?” that Juli began to wonder if this was the new role that God had been preparing her for. And, as it turns out, we believe it is! We are so thankful for the way God has provided for our needs, and that He did it from within our own church family.
GraceKids is in good hands
Juli’s first day as XDM is tomorrow, March 1st. That leaves us temporarily without a GraceKids Director, but we are confident that because God moved Juli into a new role He will also bring in someone who will take GraceKids to the next level. In the meantime, Juli’s team of leaders will take up some extra responsibility and the awesome team of volunteers will remain in their roles. Meanwhile, Juli and her search team will be accepting resumes, interviewing candidates, and praying that God brings the right person to be the next GraceKids director in His good timing.
If you missed last Sunday’s service - or simply want a refresher - you can watch the video below to hear more details about the process, the job, and how God has been at work throughout from several of our elders and Juli herself:
Finally, we want to thank you, church, for praying through this process over the last 18 months. Although the journey to get to this point was unexpectedly long, we can clearly see how God was at work preparing both Juli and us as a church for this next season of ministry. We are grateful to our good and loving Father for His wise provision!
Ultimately, it is our prayer that God’s kingdom would grow as a result of Juli’s ministry as our Executive Director of Ministries. Would you join us in that prayer?