As we move through a transition between senior pastors, Knollwood continues our mission to love and live like Jesus. After 13 years as the senior pastor at Knollwood, Dr. Bob Setzer, Jr., retired Jan. 31, 2025. The occasion was marked by memorable celebrations and expressions of gratitude. Read more about the celebrations of Dr. Bob and his retirement announcement.
The spiritual discernment and shared work of moving toward a new pastor has begun.
Knollwood’s Transition Study Team (TST) and Pastor Search Committee (PSC) are pleased to announce that Knollwood’s Congregational Profile is now available. Based on information gleaned from three congregational conversations held in spring 2025 and an online survey, and with input from our ministers and staff, the profile is a comprehensive look at our church, its history, staff, ministries, and missions, and the city which surrounds us.
The profile is designed to be a truthful and helpful reflection of Knollwood to inform those who may be candidates to be our new pastor.
View the congregational profile.
Many thanks to the seven members of the TST and the 12 PSC committee members who worked together to create the document and to Sylvia Oberle and Marissa Joyce for their extraordinary editing and design work.
The TST members are Steve Cramer, Lindley Curtis, Lincoln Heinsohn, Rebecca Neiberg, Sylvia Oberle, Megan White, and David Wilkinson.
If you would like a link to a PDF that you can download to read or print at home (note that it is 72 pages and a very large document), please email the church office.
The Pastor Search Committee now begins its work in earnest by crafting a pastor profile. Following our bylaws, four PSC members were designated to serve because of their other leadership roles, and eight were nominated by the Nominating 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, a Bridge Team appointed by the Deacon Executive Council has been working alongside the ministers to oversee the transitional period, to identify our 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: Presentation Recording | Presentation Slideshow
Jan. 5, 2025: Presentation Recording | Presentation Slideshow
March 26, 2025: Presentation Slideshow
The Bridge Team co-chairs are Diane Lipsett and Cliff Pennell, with members John Boehme, Linda Browne, Mark Jensen, and Spence O’Neill.
