The congregation of South Highland Presbyterian Church has called The Rev. Cort Gatliff as its next Senior Pastor, after a unanimous vote on Sunday, July 14, 2024. Cort was welcomed with thunderous applause from over three hundred members and family in attendance at the congregational meeting.
In its report to the congregation (available here), the Pastor Nominating Committee stated that “Cort exhibits all the traits that our congregation felt were important for our next senior pastor. He is compassionate, relationship-oriented and an extremely effective preacher. Additionally, he possesses all the pastoral skills that were repeatedly called out by our congregation during this search, namely preaching, pastoral care and leadership.”
The PNC began its work immediately after being elected in February 2023, considering dozens of candidates from more than fifteen states and the District of Columbia in the course of its work. Its members adopted an attitude of continual prayer for wisdom and discernment. The vote to recommend Cort to the congregation was unanimous among committee members and was followed by unanimous approval by the presbytery’s Committee on Ministry.
He has a vision for where we can go as a church and has consistently demonstrated his care for our congregation.
Pastor Nominating Committee Report, July 2024
While he has been present at SHPC for five years, first as ministry intern and most recently as Associate Pastor for Discipleship, the PNC report states that the committee had “purposely opened our minds beyond what some might say is the ‘easy’ choice” and, while presented with several excellent candidates, were continuously drawn back to Cort.
Cort is, of course, not the only Reverend Gatliff on South Highland’s pastoral staff. The Rev. Abby Gatliff will remain as Associate Pastor while Cort assumes his new leadership role. The congregation is very pleased that Cort, Abby and their beautiful daughters will be part of the SHPC family for years to come.