The Foursquare Church continues a process of district consolidation and alignment first announced last fall. Foursquare president Jack W. Hayford, on behalf of the board of directors, announced preliminary decisions regarding this process during multiple conference calls yesterday, one with present district supervisors, another with divisional superintendents and a third call including national leadership and administrative resource center (ARC) personnel. Specifically, the conference calls focused on the process, the personnel, and the plan for district consolidation as we enter the new year.
The Process
In January 2008, the 450-member Foursquare executive council initiated transparent dialogue regarding the present district structure of The Foursquare Church. Recommendations emerged from this dialogue that led to a series of discussions with board members, the executive team, ministers and elders of the Foursquare family regarding a need for adjustment in certain facets of our district oversight. A season of prayer and fasting, gatherings focused on seeking the counsel of elders, and several opportunities for input from Foursquare ministers in the field brought us to a place of understanding the will of the Lord for our future.
Regarding this process, Pastor Jack has written: “I would welcome any and every Foursquare credentialed minister to have experienced the humility, the prayerful integrity, and the meek-spirited, responsibly cautious and righteous way the board pursued this process. This was most definitely not a political process. Neither was it managed by the president (myself) or the chairman of the board (Glenn). Rather, I appointed a pastoral member of the board to chair the entire day these selections were being processed. Glenn and I only spoke when the board asked for our thoughts.”
The Personnel
Fourteen Foursquare leaders have been appointed to serve as supervisors of our newly consolidated districts effective May 1, 2009. The Foursquare board of directors approved the 14 new supervisors and the geographic boundaries (PDF, 1 Page, 2.1 MB) of each new district in mid-December. Announcement of district names for each of the 14 districts will be made as they are finalized.
The 14 new supervisors were selected through a process including recommendations from ministers in each region of the country, divisional superintendents, current district supervisors, regional supervisors, and the board of directors. Suggestions for interview questions and protocol were carefully vetted and a representative panel conducted a four-hour long personal interview with each candidate and his or her spouse.
New supervisors and district boundaries (click on a name for a brief biography):
- Larry Spousta – Alaska, Oregon and a portion of southern Washington (131 churches)
- Dave Veach – Washington, Northern Idaho (156 churches)
- Mike McGovern – Montana, Southern Idaho, Wyoming, and North Dakota (59 churches)
- Sam Rockwell – South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and Colorado (135 churches)
- Dan Mundt – Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana (142 churches)
- Harriet Mouer – Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, South New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware (118 churches)
- Jim Scott – New York, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, North New Jersey (98 churches)
- Scott Reece – Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina (141 churches)
- David Coffey – New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi (158 churches)
- Kimberly Dirmann – Arizona and parts of Southern California and Nevada (173 churches)
- Art Gray – Los Angeles (144 churches)
- John Tolle – Southern California Valleys (173 churches)
- Ron Pinkston – Northern parts of Nevada and California, and Utah (164 churches)
- Alex Pacheco – Hawaii (48 churches)
The Plan
Current district supervisors will serve in their present assignments until the new supervisors assume their duties on May 1, 2009. Transition plans are in place to ensure that everyone involved in the consolidation plan is well cared for as the process moves forward. Plans are underway to honor our present supervisors during the Executive Council Summit this month in Long Beach, Calif. as well as during convention this May in Anaheim. Each fully functioning district will be up and running by June 1.
Monthly e-mail communiqués will be sent via the Foursquare News Service as new information is available regarding district consolidation and alignment. Details are available online including pertinent correspondence, a question and answer page, and an introductory biography of each new supervisor.
Watch a video online (opens new window) with Pastor Jack Hayford and Glenn Burris Jr. as they share the heart of district consolidation and alignment and introduce the new supervisors.
Consensus to Consolidate
District consolidation was first announced in a letter from President Jack Hayford in September 2008. In his letter, Pastor Jack referenced a meeting in Long Island, N.Y., that included our current district supervisors, board members and executives, when he wrote: “Being together convinced us that distinct alterations must be made, and we derived a consensus to take decisive action. A vote of 76-2 confirmed the need to consolidate our district structures by reducing the number and management from 70 part-time supervisors to between 15 and 20 mostly full-time supervisors.”
During the November meeting of the Foursquare board of directors in Pasadena, Calif., Glenn Burris observed: “We spent much time in worship, prayer and counsel. These were amazing sessions together, in which we experienced the presence of the Lord and a sense of peace and confidence about this present moment in our history. There were prophecies, words of knowledge and wisdom, instruction and correction. There was a spirit of humility at the awesome task before us.”
In addition to the new supervisor appointments, Robby Booth has also been appointed as assistant general supervisor and will fill the vacancy left by Jim Scott, who will return to the East Coast as supervisor in the Northeast.
The Foursquare family is encouraged to pray as we continue to navigate the myriad details that must be addressed to ensure a healthy and successful transition.
“Believe in the Lord your God and you will be established; Believe His prophets and you will prosper.” – 2 Chronicles 20:20 NKJV
