King’s Harbor Church in Torrance, California was a church not unlike many of the churches VitalChurch Ministry works with. The 19-year old church had experienced a couple of major setbacks, and in early 2015, the church found itself without a senior pastor.
Fortunately for King’s Harbor, seven pastors from neighboring churches stepped in to serve as temporary elders in those first critical weeks. Shortly thereafter, those pastors contacted Pastor Gregg Caruso. Gregg, one of the interim pastors on our staff, and a Partner at VitalChurch, was chosen to assume the role of interim pastor at King’s Harbor, after being vetted by King’s Harbor’s team of pastors.
Gregg’s time as interim pastor at the non-denominational church in Torrance lasted 25 months. During that time, Pastor Gregg provided a stabilizing presence, brought some consistency to the weekend services, and also came alongside a depleted church staff to provide encouragement, training, and a listening ear.
In addition, Pastor Gregg assembled a Transition Team with input from church staff and ministry leaders. This team was made up of key church members and leaders who worked with Pastor Gregg to plan and administrate five all-church Summits to reaffirm the church’s values, vision, and mission, and to help determine what the church was looking for in their next lead pastor.
Pastor Gregg also helped assemble and train a pastoral search team who worked with the Vanderbloemen Group, a church staffing firm based in Houston, Texas. Together, the search team and the staffing firm, with guidance from Pastor Gregg, selected Mike Dsane to be the new lead pastor of King’s Harbor Church. Pastor Dsane comes to King’s Harbor from The Village Church, a large church in the Dallas Metroplex area.
Pastor Dsane was formally installed as lead pastor of King’s Harbor in a special installation service in early May 2017.
Pastor Gregg said of his time at King’s Harbor, “It was a bumpy road at times, yet an amazing conclusion was realized. Truly the best days are ahead for King’s Harbor Church!”
He continued, “It is bittersweet to move on from King’s Harbor Church as the Intentional Interim Lead Pastor, but I couldn’t be happier for them as Mike Dsane steps in to serve as their new permanent lead pastor.”
Pastor Gregg will stay connected with their new pastor in the coming months to follow up and to make sure the transition is a smooth one.
We are grateful to God for everything He has accomplished at King’s Harbor Church and pray that they remain committed to their mission and to following the Holy Spirit’s guidance!
If your church could benefit from an interim pastor, and from an organization dedicated to church revitalization, contact us at VitalChurch Ministry. We’d love to talk with you about your church’s needs and how we can partner with you.