Registration is now open for the 2025 Inspire Arts, Worship, and Service Camp (July 14-18) for children who have finished first through eighth grade. Find out more.
Registration is now open for the 2025 Inspire Arts, Worship, and Service Camp (July 14-18) for children who have finished first through eighth grade. Find out more.
As we move through a transition between senior pastors, Knollwood continues our mission to love and live like Jesus. After 13 years asthe senior pastor at Knollwood, Dr. Bob Setzer, Jr., retired Jan. 31, 2025. The occasion was marked by memorable celebrations and expressions of gratitude.
The spiritual discernment and shared work of moving toward a new pastor has begun. At the same time, Knollwood’s vibrant ministries, missions, and congregational life continue. Alongside our gifted ministerial staff and strong deacon leadership, three teams are leading particular aspects of the interim processes.
A Transition Study Team (TST) of seven members is leading a self-study that seeks to involve the full congregational in exploring who we are and where God is leading us next. A first congregation conversation on Sunday, March 2, was well-attended, providing insight into Knollwood’s history, stories, and values. Two more KBC self-study conversations lie ahead:
Sundays, April 6 and April 27, noon-1:30 PM, Fellowship Hall
We hope that each Knollwood member will attend both these upcoming congregational conversations. Child care and a light lunch will be provided.
REGISTER TO ATTEND. (You must register separately for each conversation.)
At the conclusion of the self-study, the TST will compose a congregational profile that will inform the next phase of the transition. We thank them for their leadership in this key part of the transitional process.
The TST members are Steve Cramer, Lindley Curtis, Lincoln Heinsohn, Rebecca Neiberg, Sylvia Oberle, Megan White, and David Wilkinson.
Once the congregational self-study is completed, the Pastor Search Committee (PSC) will begin its work in earnest by crafting a pastor search profile. Following our bylaws, four PSC members were designated to serve because of their other leadership roles, and eight were nominated by theNominating and Leadership Development Committee, selected for the values and skills they bring to the work of the PSC and for the way the committee as a whole reflects the demographics of our congregation. We thank them for their willingness to serve Knollwood in this important way.
The PSC members are Martha Allman, Trevor Anderson, John Boehme, Clyde Cash, Dean Clifford, Linda Denney, Beth Fields, Tom Ginn, Marissa Joyce, Charles Maner, Spence O’Neill, and Ed Southern.
Starting before Dr. Bob Setzer, Jr.’s retirement and continuing through the early part of the interim between pastors, a Bridge Team appointed by the Deacon Executive Council has been working alongside the ministers to plan for the early phases of the interim period; to coordinate preaching, worship, and spiritual care; to identify and recommend an interim minister; and to ensure that Knollwood continues to flourish in the months ahead.
The Bridge Team has offered several congregational presentations with overviews of the interim period:
Oct. 27, 2024: Conversation Recording | Conversation Slideshow
Jan. 5, 2025: Conversation Recording | Conversation Slideshow
Information will continue to be shared through many channels and gatherings. Bridge Team members are John Boehme, Linda Browne, Mark Jensen, Diane Lipsett, Spence O’Neill, and Cliff Pennell. John Boehme and Diane Lipsett serve as leaders for the administrative and ministry staff.
When he announced his retirement to the congregation on Oct. 20, 2024, Dr. Bob said, “Serving as your pastor for the past 13 years (effective Nov. 15) has been one of the greatest privileges of my life and certainly my most rewarding experience in pastoral ministry.
“But after over four decades in the full-time ministry of the church, I feel my soul yearning for a new chapter when I can spend more time with my beloved wife, Bambi, and with our daughter, Whitney, son-in-law, Jay, and grandsons, James (12) and Andrew (9).”
Jan 26, 2024: Celebration of Bob and Bambi Setzer’s Ministry. Recording
In response to the news of our pastor’s retirement, Knollwood’s chair of deacons, Spence O’Neill, said, “While we will miss Bob very much, we are grateful for his many years at Knollwood, and we trust that the period ahead will be a fruitful time of reflection and connection for our congregation as we move toward the next chapter of Knollwood’s history.”
