Jonah, Jenna, & Charles Stalsberg
Jonah’s Candidating Documents
Cover Letter
Resume
Midland Free Questionnaire
Ministry Match Profile
Preached Sermon Links
Associate Pastor of Discipleship Job Description
Pastoral Search Evaluation
Hello Midland Free family,
After many months of prayer, correspondence, and interviews, we are pleased to introduce Jonah Stalsberg as the candidate for the Associate Pastor of Discipleship position. This has been a long and thoughtful process, and we are genuinely excited for our congregation to meet Jonah and see firsthand his love for God, his passion for discipleship and God’s Word, and his experience in ministry.
Jonah will be visiting Midland Free for his candidating visit November 20-22. We will be hosting a forum on Wednesday, November 11 from 6:30-8:00 pm to answer questions and help you prepare for Jonah’s candidating visit. A special business meeting will be held following the worship service on Sunday, December 6, at which time the congregation will decide whether to extend the position to him. We have prepared this information packet to help you get to know Jonah more fully prior to his visit.
About Jonah:
Jonah is a native of Minnesota, growing up outside Minneapolis. He met his wife Jenna when they both were serving as interns at River Valley Church in Minnesota. They have been married for over 4 years. Jonah began serving in full-time ministry as a youth pastor in Mankato Minnesota at Hillside Church. He and Jenna would move to Jenna’s home state of Ohio, to serve as youth and young adult pastor at New Height Church, in Fairfield. While there, their family increased with the birth of their son Charles, now 18 months old.
We would also like to share how we arrived at extending candidacy to Jonah. With the changes in pastoral staff, the Elders began prayerfully considering the current and future needs of Midland Free. They recognized a necessity to give more attention and guidance to the Biblical call to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20) and how implementation of a discipleship path would benefit all of our ministries. In December 2025, the congregation voted to approve a new role, the Associate Pastor of Discipleship and the associated job description. The search committee was formed in January 2026 and the position began accepting applicants.
The committee reviewed numerous resumes and questionnaires, and conducted video interviews with top candidates. In July we communicated to you that we had a candidate out for an incognito visit but discerned that he was not the right candidate for the role. Though this could have been discouraging, we were confident in the Lord’s timing and that was confirmed as Jonah emerged as a top candidate in the next round of applications that came in. As we shared in the worship service on October 25, Jonah and his family have recently been in Midland for an in-person interview with the search committee and elder board, as well as an opportunity to experience the culture and rhythm of our church. This upcoming candidating visit will be your opportunity to meet Jonah and his family, ask questions, and hear some of his preaching in person. As noted, a special business meeting will be held on Sunday, December 6 after the service, to determine whether we will formally extend a call to Jonah to join our church as the Associate Pastor of Discipleship.
In anticipation of his visit, we encourage you to pray, watch some of Jonah’s past sermons, and begin preparing questions. Please also attend the forum on November 11, at 6:30pm, where you can ask questions of us before his visit the following week. We are excited for you to meet Jonah and his family and look forward to seeing how God continues to work in and through our church.
For more information about Jonah including his resume, questionnaire and preaching samples, please see the links below.
Thank you for your faithful prayers as we have worked through this process, and we look forward to engaging with you in this important next step.
Associate Pastor of Discipleship Search Committee
Shane Bradley
Mike Carpenter
Carla Davidson
Kurt Gelman
Erin Lacher
Heather Witt