Recommendation of Candidate Rev. Morgan “Mo” Leverett
After 6 months of intensive prayer, preparation, and deliberation, the Pastor Search Committee unanimously recommends Rev. Morgan "Mo" Leverett be called as Senior Pastor for CenterPoint Church. We are extremely excited about what God has done in bringing us a man so uniquely qualified to lead us in our vision for bringing the Gospel in word and deed to the center of Tallahassee. We have provided the following information to help prepare members for the upcoming congregational vote (immediately following the worship service on Sunday, August 17):
The Process
Why We Make this Recommendation
-Assessment of Other Top Candidates
The Candidate
Mo’s Cover Letter, Personal Views and Testimony (PDF)
Mo’s Resume (PDF)
Mo’s Response to Pastoral Priorities and Preferences (PDF)
What Happens from Here
Congregational Meeting and Vote
The Process
What We Expected
We expected our search to take anywhere from 6-18 months and that the right candidate might come at any point in the process. We also expected we would present from 1 to no more than 3 candidates to the congregation. We hoped to find a candidate who fit into our church’s distinct culture and who possessed attributes in keeping with the priorities and preferences established by our Session and affirmed by the congregation:
- Communicates well to long-time believers, unbelievers and new Christians
- Embodies a culture of grace and able to bring to our church community a humble and grace-filled demeanor and approach to ministry
- Demonstrates leadership ability
- Committed to and excited about leading a center-city church
- Committed to being a church of small groups
- Able to work with our existing staff
- Passionate about discipleship and training
- Ordained as a PCA minister
- Experience with center-city and multi-cultural ministry
- Concerned for issues of poverty and social justice
- Strives for church unity
- Able to cross denominational lines
- Experienced as a husband and father
Of course, we also expected that no candidate would be perfect in every area.
What We Have Done
Over the course of 6 months, our team has met more than a dozen times and over 40 hours establishing the search process, clarifying our church’s unique profile, and searching and evaluating potential candidates:
- Established the pastor search process and conducted informational meetings to keep congregation informed
- Sought input from the congregation which included conducting a congregational survey
- Created a church profile representing input from the Session, staff and congregation
- Sought candidates within our “friends and family” network
- Posted the position on PCA Ministry Opportunities and Reformed Theological Seminary Job web sites
- Collected and reviewed over 25 applications
- Rejected 18 candidates for lack of sufficient qualifications, experience in priority areas and fit for our vision as a church
- Identified 3 “second tier” candidates for consideration if “top tier” candidates were eliminated
- Identified 4 “top tier” candidates for further consideration
- Had phone discussions with each
- Reviewed sermons (involved Search Committee members and/or members of the congregation)
- Pursued in-depth interactions with the Rev. Mo Leverett as the top candidate who fulfilled each of our priorities and preferences
- Conducted over 20 hours of interviews with Mo over 2 weekends (involved the Search Committee elders and staff)
- Had detailed conversations with more than 9 references (both first- and second-hand)
- Considered in depth all the pros and cons of which we are aware
- Sought counsel from men we respect who have a heart for CenterPoint’s vision and people, including Chuck Ryor and Joe Elliott
Why We Make this Recommendation
Through a comprehensive screening process, the Search Committee determined to find out as thoroughly and carefully as possible if Mo was indeed the man we had already surveyed him to be. Extensive group interviews, informal interactions, reference checks, listening to sermons and reviewing the written materials, both provided and obtained, brought us to where each of the Search Committee members and the Session are unanimous in their recommendation to the congregation of calling Rev. Mo Leverett to be our Senior Pastor.
The Pastor Search Committee did not expect to find a candidate who so strongly fit in every area of the priorities and preferences identified at the onset of this search. We were stunned when, in light of more than twenty five candidates and inquiries that Mo Leverett alone possesses the breadth of qualifications across the whole spectrum of what we had established as our priorities. Mo and his family have survived a category-5 hurricane that completely wiped out everything they had, including the educational infrastructure within their city. Each of their children has had to endure move after move from one school to another given the slow and ongoing recovery efforts in New Orleans. Through our search process, we discovered that the Leverett family is in need of a supporting, grace-filled church home as much as CenterPoint is in need of a Senior Pastor.
-Assessment of Mo
Mo Leverett possesses significant qualifications across the whole spectrum of our desired priorities and uniquely suited to our vision:
- Extensive experience in developing a ministry from the ground up
- Has brought together suburban churches, the PCA, government and the business communities to minister the Gospel in an area of great need
- Demonstrates an ability to cross denominational and racial barriers for the sake of the Gospel
- Rich experience in discipling and mentoring, counseling young marriages, and training/equipping the church to do what CenterPoint desires in Tallahassee
- A loving husband and father who is actively putting his family first
- Passionate about center-city ministry and full of ideas for how CenterPoint might reach out beyond urban ministry to a ministry that would include the arts, the universities, Government and business
- Tender to the grace God has shown him over his life and desires to share that with others
- A crushed man who has been humbled by experiences, particularly in the last three years, as his community, ministry and home were destroyed resulting in a brokenness in his life and a demonstration of how God sustains him
- A strategic manager who is able to equip and empower both staff and volunteers to do ministry in their areas of gifting
- Years of experience in ministry given him maturity, perspective, wisdom and humility
-Assessment of Other Top Candidates
In addition to their fit with our established priorities and preferences, candidates were evaluated based on the following:
- Philosophy of ministry that matched our own
- Level of experience with our priority areas
- Personality fit with CenterPoint
- Interest in ministering in a southern city
- Philosophy of church discipline that included restoration
- Experience in center-city ministry
- Interest in being a part of a church with multiple staff
- Proven leadership to take a young church towards realizing her vision
Of the 25 candidates, 18 were rejected for various reasons, including but not limited to a lack of sufficient qualifications, experience in key areas and fit for our vision as a church. Three candidates (“second tier”) had some qualifications in certain areas of our vision and priorities but not nearly enough to warrant initial pursuit. They were categorized for consideration in a second round.
Top Tier Candidates. Four candidates had qualifications in more than a few of our priority areas, and only one, Mo Leverett, possessed qualifications across the whole spectrum. All four applicants in the top tier were contacted by phone to determine mutual interest. Sermon evaluations were conducted for three of the four. Of the top tier not including Mo, candidates varied in their strengths from good presentation of the Word in a sermon, participating in an urban children’s ministry, leading a racially and socio-economically diverse campus ministry to counseling credentials and hospitality. Some had more pastoral/shepherding experience than others. Some had more cross-cultural and center-city experience than others, but none of that top tier (excepting Mo) had the proven experience in leading an organization with a mission for center-city gospel ministry. None had the depth of experience managing a cross-cultural staff. None stood out as not only visionaries but visionaries who exhibited a proven record of creating and establishing strategies that got an organization from vision to actual implementation. Skills tended to be in some of our areas of priority but not in an overwhelming majority. One candidate had a heart for urban ministry but lacked any experience in leading an organization with urban ministry as one its focus areas. In general, the top tier, with the exception of Mo, presented some great qualities but would also have forced us to give up some of our priorities and preferences in order to gain a match in some of the other key areas.
The Candidate
- Mo’s Cover Letter, Personal Views and Testimony (PDF)
- Mo’s Resume (PDF)
- Mo’s Response to Pastoral Priorities and Preferences (PDF)
What Happens from Here
1st Q&A Session >> Sunday, 8/10 immediately following Worship
Members are welcome to stay after the service for a question-and-answer forum with the members of the Search Committee. Nurseries will remain open during this time.
2nd Q&A Session and Prayer >> Tuesday, 8/12 @ 7 pm @ the CenterPoint property
Members are welcome to attend an evening question-and-answer session with the Search Committee and elders at the church property. The Q&A session will be followed by a time of prayer.
Congregational Meeting and Vote >> Sunday, 8/17 immediately following Worship
Members will be presented with a formal recommendation by the Search Committee and will vote on whether or not to approve Mo Leverett as CenterPoint’s Senior Pastor. Nurseries will remain open during this time.
