On Sunday, March 1, a special church meeting will be held at 12:30 PM to vote on confirming the recommendation of Sarah Anderson as Hillcrest’s new Associate Pastor of Family Ministry – Children. 

At the Annual Meeting in March 2006, Hillcrest commissioned a group to review the current Children’s ministry programs and explore potential areas for growth.  That committee became known as the Children’s Ministry Exploratory Committee, or C-MEX.  The committee, working closely with Pastor Jerry, asked countless questions:  What do we have?  What is working well at Hillcrest?  What can be improved?  What is our church lacking in the area of Children’s Ministry?  What is working effectively for churches in our area and in our denomination?  What does an effective, thriving children’s Ministry program look like?  If we were to hire someone, should it be a full-time or part-time position?  In an effort to answer these questions the committee spoke with other children’s ministry personnel and even traveled to the Pittsburgh area to visit two churches with successful Children’s ministry programs.   The group was reauthorized to continue its task at Annual meeting in March of 2007 and encouraged in its efforts.

Eventually, the committee generated a list of recommendations which included the following:   1. Hire a full-time children’s ministry leader to oversee nursery through 6^th grade;   2. Establish a search committee to seek out qualified candidates;   3. Consider programming changes that will not only teach core Biblical principles, but also actively equip parents to apply God’s Word throughout the week, and  foster a sense of community or belonging so kids are excited about attending church. 

At the annual meeting in 2008, the position was officially put into the church budget. A start date of September, 2008, was given with the hope that a candidate could be hired within that time. 

Then, the real work began:  searching for candidates.  The job description was posted through numerous sources, both print and electronic.  The C-MEX committee reviewed literally dozens of resumes, and held phone interviews with many of the candidates.  Three  potential candidates actually came to Hillcrest for “unofficial” visits… a time for the candidates to get a “look-see” at the church, as well as for the church to see the candidate in person and in action.  Through this visitation process, God’s direction became very clear, not only to members of the CMEX committee and others in the church, but also to the candidates themselves.  One of these candidates rose to the top, and there really was no question that we had the right person for the job. 

 After further meetings with the Deacons and other ministry leaders, Sarah Anderson officially candidated at Hillcrest on Sunday, February 15.  

We’re very excited to recommend Sarah Anderson to the Hillcrest family!  She and her husband Tyler come to us from Michigan, where they have been working in a large Christian camp and retreat center.  They are both graduates of Cedarville University.  As Children’s Pastor, Sarah will be responsible for overseeing virtually all aspects of children’s programming at Hillcrest. Her first priority will be to get to know our kids and families; then she will work with us to further develop and grow our children’s program so that Hillcrest can more effectively reach and teach elementary age kids for Christ.

All active members 18 years of age or older are eligible to vote and are encouraged to be in prayer for God's leading and to attend the special meeting on March 1.