Announcement from the RPC Pulpit Committee

“And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”  Jeremiah 3:15

Redeemer members and friends,

The Redeemer Pulpit Committee is very pleased to report that we have fulfilled our call and are prepared to bring our recommendations to a congregational vote on October 30^th. We have been on a journey that has left us humbled, challenged, inspired, encouraged and ultimately filled with excitement and joy.

After many months of prayerful engagement and a rigorous process of examination, the committee is confident to call Paul Hahn as the Lead Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church. Paul is an experienced pastor and well-known leader in the Presbyterian Church in America. He served as the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Austin, then planted Redeemer Church of Knoxville, Tennessee, before being called to lead Mission to North America, the PCA’s agency giving leadership and direction to church planting, church renewal, and missional partnerships throughout the United States and Canada. Paul currently serves as Interim Senior Pastor of Pacific Crossroads Church in Los Angeles, California. 

Paul will preach in Redeemer’s Sunday morning services on October 23^rd, and we look forward to the congregation of Redeemer meeting Paul and his wife, Fran, in the next part of our process.

There is so much to say about how our search committee arrived at this conclusion, and we are eager to share with you how we have seen God’s hand at work. It is a lengthy story, but one we feel is important to share in full.

Our committee first interviewed Paul Hahn in September of 2021. We were enthusiastic about his candidacy as we learned more about him. However, because he was committed to lead Pacific Crossroads Church in Los Angeles through June of 2023 as Interim Senior Pastor, he withdrew from our process. Although we were disappointed, we agreed that the timing was not right. We continued interviewing candidates for the next several months, but for various reasons, none of these men proceeded to advanced stages in our process.

Then, our search took an unexpected turn. In January of 2022, RPC Associate Pastor of Spiritual Formation Matt Beham entered the search process. As previously communicated to the congregation, both Matt and RPC Associate Pastor of Mission and Cultural Engagement Victor Martinez were asked at the beginning of the search process whether they wished to be considered as candidates. Both declined. But then, early this year, Matt asked to be considered. Through leading the preaching ministry at Redeemer during this search period, he had begun to feel God’s calling on his life to serve as a senior pastor in the future. Matt expressed great humility in asking to be considered for the role, saying that he expected it to be mostly a learning experience for him.

Matt underwent the same rigorous rounds of examination as all other candidates, and in that process it became clear to our committee that he is an emerging leader with very strong potential, and one who deeply loves Redeemer. All of us at Redeemer have seen Matt grow into a very gifted preacher, and as we interviewed him, asking hard questions about the future vision and direction of Redeemer, we were impressed with his thoughtful answers.

The challenge of considering Matt as a candidate, one which he acknowledged openly, was that he lacks senior leadership experience. For this reason, we knew it was not the right time to call him as our Senior Pastor. However, we were also eager to consider how Redeemer could continue to benefit from Matt’s gifts and future growth as a leader.

In March of 2022, learning that our search had not yet concluded, Paul Hahn requested to re-enter our process. As we proceeded to interviews with him, our committee saw Paul as an excellent, faithful preacher of the Gospel, a humble, prayerful person, a consummate pastor with much experience leading congregations, casting vision, building lay leaders, “pastoring pastors”, and developing pastoral leaders.

As a committee, we wrestled with whether it was possible to call Paul while also creating space for Matt’s continued development as a leader and preacher. From these conversations came a new possibility. McGowan International, our search consulting firm, introduced us to a relatively new pastoral leadership structure that is becoming more prevalent both inside and outside the PCA: a shared leadership between two pastors. McGowan provided us with opportunities to speak with other churches who have been practicing this shared pastoral leadership for several years.

Shared pastoral leadership can take many forms, but in broad terms, it provides a way for two pastors to lead a congregation together. This allows them to expand and build on one another’s strengths, talents and experiences and helps them develop in areas that are more challenging for them as they work together. Both the church and the pastors benefit through this continuous flow of energy and mutual growth. Shepherding responsibilities can be shared, helping prevent pastoral burnout, and the congregation can experience different preaching styles and approaches.

Our committee became intrigued with this idea of shared pastoral leadership. What might it look like if Paul, the seasoned, experienced, established leader could share the pulpit and pastoral leadership with Matt, the promising young pastor with clear leadership potential?

From our meetings with other church leaders and from McGowan, we learned there are three key elements in successful shared pastoral leadership:  humility, complementary gifting, and a strong relationship between the men. So we began to consider whether these elements existed in our two candidates.

Humility: During our reference meetings with people that know Paul, his humility was mentioned again and again. As we came to know Paul better, his humility was also one of the most apparent characteristics we observed. Those who know Matt have seen him to be a capable, yet very humble leader here at Redeemer, and we were grateful for his humility in engaging this process.

Complementary gifting: Our committee could clearly see the complementary gifting between these men, especially in their experience and what they would bring to Redeemer. Redeemer will benefit from Paul’s wisdom and experience from his years of pastoral service and denominational leadership and the church will continue to benefit from Matt’s familiarity with Redeemer’s history, values and vision of ministry. Especially when considered alongside the gifting of RPC Executive Director Jeremy Whitley and RPC Associate Pastor Victor Martinez, we feel that this will provide a strong, effective force for leadership at Redeemer.

Relationship: The third element, a strong relationship between these two men, was an unknown at first.  Paul and Matt have many mutual friends, but had previously never had reason to spend time together. However, both men were interested in exploring shared pastoral leadership. They met for several conversations during General Assembly this June in Birmingham, Alabama. Later in the summer, Paul and his wife Fran came to Texas and spent a weekend with Matt and his wife Haley in the Hill Country. Their relationship is off to a great start and they are enthusiastic about working side by side. Our committee got to witness their already-strong camaraderie while interviewing them together a few weeks ago.

With solid evidence of these three elements in place, our committee entered into a full consideration of shared pastoral leadership. After much prayer, deliberation as a committee, interaction from our consultants at McGowan, further conversation with Matt and Paul, and discussions with the Session of Redeemer, the committee recommends the following:

1.     The congregation of Redeemer call Paul Hahn as Lead Pastor. As we’ve gotten to know Paul, we feel that his humility, prayerfulness, relational ability and sincere pastor’s heart will bless our Redeemer community in a beautiful way.

2.     The Session of Redeemer expand Matt Beham’s role and responsibilities and name him Co-Lead Pastor. We believe this allows Redeemer to continue to benefit from Matt’s presence among us and his gifting in preaching, while accelerating his readiness to be a Senior Pastor.

While the specifics of oversight for each of the ministry areas will be determined by Paul and the Session in the coming months, the key aspects of this shared pastoral leadership are:

• Paul, as our Lead Pastor, will have overall leadership of the Redeemer staff and serve as the Moderator of the Session.
• Paul and Matt will share pastoral, shepherding, and discipling activities, including equal sharing of preaching responsibilities.

Our committee, our Session, and Paul and Matt are excited about shared pastoral leadership at Redeemer. Many of you know Matt Beham very well. He’s spent all of his pastoral career at our church, loves the people of Redeemer, and he is well loved by all who know him.  As we’ve gotten to know Paul, we feel that his proven commitment to collaborative leading, his record of building consensus while providing godly wisdom and direction, and his deep desire to be a shepherd in all aspects of the church will lead Redeemer to a season of renewal that will enable us to continue and develop our calling: to be a church in the city and for the city through the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“And he gave them the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,” Ephesians 4:11,12

Thank you for the joy of being part of this search and for your faithful prayers for us in it. Please continue in prayer as we embark together on this new chapter in the life of Redeemer.

The RPC Pulpit Committee

Ann Bingham, Co-Chair

Henry Sauer, Co-Chair

Eric Arguello ; Paul Barton

Bob George ; Halli Hollimon

Erin Hurt ; Haley Wachdorf

Please take time to view Redeemer's full pastoral announcement document, "The Next Chapter at Redeemer," which is posted below and includes letters from Rev. Paul Hahn and Rev. Matt Beham, bios for both pastors, and important information about our next steps in this process. Mark your calendars for Sunday, October 23^rd, when Rev. Paul Hahn will preach in Redeemer's Sunday worship services, and plan to join us on Sunday, October 30^th for a congregational meeting called by the RPC Session. At this meeting, the congregation of Redeemer will vote on extending a pastoral call to Paul Hahn.

Visit redeemersa.org/Transition for ongoing updates and links to all documents created during Redeemer's pastoral transition process.