Small Church in NC Finds New Senior Pastor

Tucked away just outside of Greensboro, NC, you’ll find the beautiful town of Burlington. Rich in history and southern charm, Burlington is home to Brick Church, where a warm handshake and bright smile greets everyone who walks through the doors.

Brick Church has a congregation of 100, but reaches thousands with the love of Christ. Brick Church focuses on reaching their community, mainly through cooking some of the best barbecue in the state! Fellowship is at the heart of this church, meeting with those that live around them to share not only great food but also the Gospel.

Toward the end of 2014, the congregation found themselves at a turning point in the church’s history. Their Senior Pastor departed to follow God’s calling, leaving the church without its only full time leader. Not knowing where to turn, Brick Church reached out to a neighboring church body, St. Mark’s Church, for help.

Tim Riddle, the Executive Pastor at St. Mark’s Church, is a man with a big heart for the local church. He accepted the opportunity to step in as Brick Church’s Interim Pastor while they searched for a full-time replacement.

Knowing that Brick Church lacked the experiences and resources needed to find their Senior Pastor on their own, Tim began looking into the possibility of hiring an expert to find their next leader. 

“[Brick Church] was one generation away from extinction,” said Tim.

“At a church this size, you not only are trying to strategically hire a pastor, you are trying to pay the light bill.”

Tim was already familiar with the work of Vanderbloemen Search Group, and he presented the idea to Brick Church to partner with the Vanderbloemen Search Group to help with the search.

The church, however, decided to first reach out to their denomination’s network and see what help they could offer. Many churches of this size lean heavily on the resources that their denomination’s network can offer; it can help lead them to potential candidates they couldn’t find on their own.

According to Tim, months went by, and the denomination was only able to produce six resumes for the church to consider. To make matters more difficult, after some shifting within their denomination, Brick Church felt it best to leave the denomination - thus leaving them without any network in which to find candidates.

Without the resources of their denomination, Brick Church revisited the idea of using a search firm, and after much discussion the church leadership made an important decision. Their decision, in their eyes, was a long-term investment in the future of the church, one that would end up costing less than a bad hire or an extended search. That decision was to partner with the Vanderbloemen Search Group to find a not just a qualified Senior Pastor, but one whose heart was aligned with the mission of reaching the community through fellowship and passionate outreach.

As they met with their Vanderbloemen Executive Search Consultant, Milan Ford, the church laid the characteristics of the Pastor they felt the Lord was leading to them, communicated the long-term mission of the church, and described the new season of growth they believed their new leader would lead them into.

This information in hand, the Vanderbloemen team set out to find the man that God had been preparing to lead Brick Church. Throughout the resume evaluations, consultations, emails, phone calls, and interviews, the entire process was bathed in prayer, start to finish.

After evaluating the top candidates presented by Vanderbloemen Search Group, Brick Church knew whom God was calling to be their next Pastor: Geoffrey LaLone from Wake Forest, NC.

Geoffrey, his wife Dawn, and their two children have close ties to the area surrounding Brick Church, and being able to invest into the community with their family was a God given opportunity Geoffrey could not pass up.  

With new building plans in place and big hearts to reach the community, Brick Church is poised for a vibrant season of growth under the leadership of Geoffrey.