From My Heart...

“How we lead and what we accomplish literally means spiritual life and death to millions of people on earth. Nothing is more important than our correct response to His call and agenda.” (Gene Mims)

I’m very grateful for the opportunity to work with those who currently make up the
new Leadership Council. I wish every church member could have been present at our
last meeting as these leaders shared their heart for His church and some of their goals
for the future. I was especially encouraged by the report from Bob Turner, chairman of
the Pastor Search Committee who said his team was committed “not to be calendar
driven” in their search for the next pastor, but “to be led only by the Holy Spirit.” My
prayer is that every church member will join with them in this commitment, and pray
for them.

The purpose of the Leadership Council is to serve as the vehicle through which the
Transitional Pastor carries out the assignments given to him by the Church Body –
duties approved by the Church in conference in October 2007. One of the major
assignments is to produce a document, outlining the basic culture of our church and
community, the opportunities and prospects for future growth and the particular
dynamics of First Baptist Church of Perry. This will include statements regarding what
we believe, why we believe it, how the church is governed and who leads it. The Pastor
Search Committee wants to present this information to a prospective pastor for his
review.

Already, the council has concluded that the church body is “deficient in doctrine” –
which is why I’m preaching the series of sermons on the basic doctrines of the
Christian faith. At the same time, there seems to be a lack of vision as to how each
committee functions in harmony with the others, which is why the Committee on
Committees is asking each committee and ministry team to formulate a job description
for their ministry. These recommendations will be reviewed, revised and then presented
to the church for final approval.

Thirdly, the Personnel, Finance, Treasurer, and the Property and Space Committees
are being asked to formulate policies and procedures by which their committees will
operate, giving continuity to an approved agenda of their work as a portion of their
members rotate off each year. Finally, all of this will be merged with the revisions now
being made to the Bylaws, presented to the Deacons and the church body for review
and final approval.

While this will take some time, perhaps even longer than some desire, if followed,
these manuals will not only help to unify the church body around the basic dynamics of
First Baptist Church of Perry, but they will also provide a statement of vision, values,
convictions and commitments – a statement of who we are as a church. I’m sure you
can see the value in this.

To finish the above quote from Gene Mims: “You and I can stay busy on a million
things under the umbrella of ministry. But if we never get a kingdom focus, if we never
make disciples and mature them, if we never extend our ministries through the lives of
people, we will ultimately fail. It is time to get off the merry-go-round of ministry and
on to the kingdom-multiplying road.” Amen, and Amen!

Pastor Wayne