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Leadership Team (LT) Update - December 2024

Greetings Church Family

It has been some time since we have put out one of our updates and we appreciate the encouragement we have had from several of you about how valuable these are.  We will do these more often!


Staffing
Rachel mentioned in a recent Connection Corner that she has been at FBC for two months now, and noted all of the things that have been taking up her time over that period – for example getting used to a new role, getting to know a new staff team, Christmas preparations, navigating issues such as the council waste water leaks, and planning for 2025.

One of the key things that she has noted is just how much extra our amazing staff team have picked up over the period where we have not had a Senior Pastor.  With that “extra” comes the need to be mindful of self-care, and so we have really encouraged the team to take some leave to rejuvenate.  Penny and Sandra have been away recently and Rachel and the team have covered lots while they have been away. The rest of the team have upcoming plans to take a break over the Christmas period, and so others on the team are then stepping in to cover. Our staff team works so well together and we appreciate every day their willingness to stand in the gap for each other and for FBC more generally where needed.

Last year we had some feedback that it would be good to have services every Sunday over the Christmas season, and so hopefully you have noted in Connection Corner that we have a range of services planned. A big thanks to the staff that have picked up the leading of these services as we know this impacts your own time with family.

Rachel has also continued her work looking at how FBC can be in the best place we possibly can when the time comes to call a new Pastor.  You may recall from earlier LT updates that part of her role is to guide us to look at tools, processes or activities that could be helpful for us as a church moving forward.  Further, her role involves assisting with getting the next Pastoral Search process underway, which the next section discusses. 


Pastoral Search
As we seek God for the way forward, we pray that you would commit our pastoral search to God in prayer.

In September we advised that some of the current Search Committee were going to step down and invited those with an interest in serving as part of the next team to make themselves known to Liz Kelsey.  We have had several people put their hand up and we really appreciate that, but there is a chance that not everyone - especially those who have joined us at FBC more recently - will have been aware of this.   We therefore want to give one last opportunity for expressions of interest to serve in this space. Please pray about whether you might be useful on our Search Committee.

If you would like to nominate someone or put your own name forward for consideration, please e-mail leaders@fbc.nz by Friday 20th December.  At our next LT meeting on 16 December, we will be discussing the search process timeline for 2025 and we will provide more detail in our next update.

One of the things that has arisen as part of our planning to date relates to our FBC constitution. Throughout that document there is reference to the term “Senior Pastor”.  We have really appreciated Rachel’s insights (garnered through her usual job for the Northern Baptist Association) about how other Baptist churches in NZ are structured from a staffing/pastoral perspective. Certainly some do still have a full-time Senior Pastor.  For others things are trending towards more part time pastoral roles rather than a single full-time Senior, with some having more of a pastoral team model (such as Whangaparaoa Baptist, which you can see outlined on their website.)

We are going to arrange a special meeting in February to have a bit more of a discussion about this as a church.  We think it is important to do this because we need to give some good guidance to the Search Committee about whether we collectively feel they should continue to just search for a full-ltime Senior Pastor, or whether we as a church are open to amending our constitution to accommodate an alternative pastoral model.  This meeting will take place on Sunday 23 February after the church service and we encourage all to attend.


Tools, Processes and Activities
In the staffing section above, this update notes that part of Rachel’s role is to consider how FBC can be in the best place we possibly can when the time comes to call a new Pastor.   To this end, Rachel is also working on a series of recommendations (including possible tools, processes and activities) for the rest of the LT to consider as we venture into another year!  There are some excellent resources out there, and again Rachel’s usual job means she has a wide knowledge of what is available in this area. Future LT updates will keep you informed about the recommendations that the LT agrees to progress.

We have already agreed to set aside the weekend of 21-23 March. This will be a time dedicated to prayer, fellowship, strengthening our vision, and seeking God for transformation.

The first couple of days will involve invited key leaders and a representative group of invited congregants, then on the Sunday morning we will share with everyone a summary of what has been discussed and talk to any actions going forward. More detail will follow in due course.


Trust Update
Many of you will be aware that we operate a Community Trust here at FBC.  Our Toy Library and our 24/7 Youth Work partnership with Revive Church and Pukekohe Intermediate School both sit under that Trust.

Toy Library
A HUGE thank you to all that have given to the special appeal to fill the Toy Library funding gap. We have raised all we needed which is just fantastic!  This will mean the library can keep reaching and serving our community for the rest of the financial year, by which time (end July 2025) we will know the result of other external funding applications that the Trust has in the pipeline. God is good ALL the time.

24/7 Youth Work
The Trust also wishes to update on some staffing and Trustee-related changes.  Josh van de Worp resigned from his role as 24/7 Team Leader in November when he moved to Eastgate Te Kauwhata to be the campus pastor there. His 5 hours per week role as Team Leader involved (amongst other things) the day-to-day supervision of the two youth workers that the Trust also employs to work in Pukekohe Intermediate school.  Those two youth workers attend Revive Church and Revive contributes financially to this ministry also.  It is a real example of churches and schools working in partnership to serve our wider community and to positively influence the lives of the Intermediate School students.

The Trust has also valued the work of our Trust Administrator Fiona Murray, who agreed to stay on in this 3hpw role even though she, Alan and whaanau moved to Christchurch some months ago!  Other commitments have unfortunately meant it is not possible for her to continue doing this role in 2025, and so she has also resigned.

It is a testament to the talent in our midst that we can advise that Carol Dobbe will pick up these two roles going forward. This extra day a week working for the Trust is really complementary to her role as Children and Families Pastor and seems a perfect, God-ordained fit.

Further, both Trinity Jourdain (from Revive Church), and Josh van de Worp, have agreed to join Esther Calley and Lisa Tabor as Trustees.  It is great to have some Revive church representation on board, and to keep Josh involved!  We will, of course, bring their names forward for ratification at an upcoming church family meeting.

Lastly, none would be more delighted than Christina van de Worp, who has now finally been allowed to resign as a Trustee after nearly 14 years of service in the role, despite the last few of those requiring her to serve from Rotorua where she and Will now live.  We give huge thanks to both her and Fiona as they move to new ministry opportunities more local to their homes.

Blessings,
Alan Calvert, on behalf of the LT
 
 
 
 

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Franklin Baptist Church  128 Victoria Street West, PO Box 52, Pukekohe 2120
telephone: (09) 238 8544    email:
info@fbc.nz    website: www.franklinbaptist.org.nz

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Franklin Baptist Church · 128 Victoria Street West · Pukekohe, Auckland 2120 · New Zealand

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