DATE: May 31, 2025
TO: Anthem Board of Elders
FROM: John Schmidt, OBO Anthem Lead Pastor Search Committee
SUBJECT: Recommendation of Jon Birkmire for Anthem’s Lead Pastor

On May 29, 2025, the Lead Pastor Search Committee (“Committee”) conducted its final meeting and unanimously voted to recommend Jon Birkmire as the next Lead Pastor for Anthem Church. The Committee believes it is important for the Board of Elders (“Elders”) to understand how the selection process occurred that led to its recommendation. Additionally, the intent of this memorandum is to ensure transparency for anyone who may inquire about the selection process.  What follows is a summary of the Committee’s actions that occurred throughout the 6-month process.

On November 18th of last year, the eleven-person committee was formed which was comprised of two sittng elders, one staff member, and eight faithful people who call Anthem Church their home. After being trained on the extensive process that would be required to review potential candidates, the official launch of the search process began with the Night of Worship service on January 8, 2025.

With the job opening being posted in both the Church Staffing and through the ICN sites, it wasn’t long before applications began to “pour in.” Over the course of this process there were more than 100 applications initially reviewed for appropriate qualifications, with the field finally being narrowed to 14 candidates from various churches and denominations around the country.

The Committee reviewed these 14 applications and resumes and watched numerous sermons and messages online for each of these candidates, eventually narrowing the field to the top four candidates who we believed could potentially be a good fit for Anthem Church. Jon Birkmire was one of these four candidates.

The four candidates were all notified by Anthem on February 15, 2025 of their finalist status and each candidate provided a Get to Know You questionnaire and was required to complete the Enneagram and Working Genius profiles. For personal ministry reasons, two of the four candidates withdrew their names from the search leaving Jon Birkmire and one other candidate who had previously been a lead pastor at an ICN church in Atlanta. An initial reference check on this candidate through phone calls with individuals in the ICN revealed very negative information regarding the candidate and who strongly encouraged to no longer consider his candidacy.

In early March 2025, Jon Birkmire was left as the lone eligible candidate. Out of due diligence to the selection process, the Committee considered and approved one other candidate from the initial top fourteen candidates however, that candidate subsequently reported that he was in the process of applying for another position and asked to no longer be considered for Anthem’s Lead Pastor.

From March 31st through May 7th, Jon Birkmire completed three separate interviews with members of the Committee to evaluate three distinct areas: Chemistry and Culture; Character and Faith; and Competency. Jon was unanimously approved through each of these interviews and then asked to submit a five-minute video sharing his vision for Anthem Church which was reviewed by each member of the Committee along with a summary of comments made by Jon’s references.

At the May 29th meeting of the Committee, Jeff Hogue made a motion to recommend to the Elders that Jon Birkmire be confirmed as the Lead Pastor of Anthem Church. The motion was seconded by Steve Johnson and the floor was opened for discussion. Each member of the Committee then voiced their support of the motion and added their personal comments as to how they reached their conclusion. Several overarching themes were evident amongst the Committee that led to the conclusion to recommend Jon Birkmire as Lead Pastor:

At the conclusion of the discussion a vote of the Committee was taken, and the decision was unanimous to recommend Jon to the Elders to be Anthem Church’s next Lead Pastor. The Committee then transitioned into a time of discussion to identify specific areas of Jon’s ministry that may be considered areas of weakness with recommendations to the Elders as how each might be addressed.

The Committee has one final recommendation to the Elders and that is to schedule a formal dedication ceremony to include the “laying on of hands” to recognize Jon as Anthem Church’s new Lead Pastor.

While the journey to arrive at this recommendation was long, the Committee prayerfully persevered through the process, and submitted our efforts and discernment to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Committee strongly believes this recommendation is the outcome of following God’s will.

On behalf of the entire Committee, we would like to thank the Elders in not only leading Anthem Church through this process, but also in recognizing the need to appoint a committee to serve in the capacity that it has over the last six months. We are grateful for the tremendous growth opportunity that has proved to be a huge blessing to each of us.