24 March 23
 
To the church family
 
This is FBC Leadership Team (LT) update #6.
 
Staffing
We have had a few changes in the staff space that we want to update you on.
This week Josh Temu joined the staff team on a fixed term contract as Worship Team Leader.  This position reports to the Executive Pastor.  Last year, Josh took time out from his job to attend Equippers College.  He is now a graduate of the Certificate in Christian Ministry (Worship).  We are delighted to have someone of his calibre agree to reduce his outside working hours to join us on staff.  He is employed at FBC for 10 hours per week, and as well as his time on a Sunday morning and Thursday night rehearsals, he will pick up the rostering tasks, prepping and running team nights, and will join the weekly staff team meetings.
Carol Dobbe has also agreed to increase her hours from 16 to 20, and she will pick up some additional tasks particularly in the area of design, and marketing/promoting FBC.
We have also increased Penny’s hours per week from 15 to 20.  The management team is already beginning work on the preparation of our 2023/4 budget, and Penny is now involved as part of the budget sub-committee, with particular responsibility for determining recommendations that relate to staffing.
We continue to be amazed at the talents in our midst and how God is stirring hearts in His service. Thanks Penny, Josh and Carol for your willingness to serve even more than you already do!
 
Search Committee (SC) update
The FBC Leadership team is planning to have its first meeting with the Search Committee in the week commencing 3 April.  Rachel Roche will also kindly join us in her capacity as Kaitiaki/Regional Advisor with the Northern Baptist Association. We are so appreciative of being able to call upon Rachel’s expertise here!
When we selected the names for the Search Committee, it was after much prayer and consideration – we are confident we have an excellent team.  One thing we have latterly discussed, however, is that we have Erin Temu on the LT and his son Josh Temu on the SC and on staff.  And we have myself as LT Chairperson, with my daughter-in-law Lisa Snook on the SC.  The NZ Baptist guidelines do indicate that a staff member serving on a search committee is a valid option, and we do want to celebrate 2 generations in a family being willing to faithfully serve! 
However we also understand how important it is to appropriately manage the risk of conflicts of interest arising.  We are confident we can do so.  To that end, we will be asking our SC members to sign off on a commitment to operate impartially and strive to be aware of any biases.  They also must agree to keep their conversations and deliberations confidential, meaning there are to be no conversations regarding applicants happening between Staff, SC and LT members while the SC is undertaking its work.
We will also be ensuring that we provide advice to the (yet to be appointed) SC Chairperson regarding the management of this matter.   And of course we know that it is the whole search committee (not just one or two individuals) that will bring forward a name. And it is the FBC membership that will ultimately make the decision whether or not to appoint.  So we have ensured there is good accountability, and that safeguards are woven throughout.
 
Church Meeting 7 May
We would like to formally notify everyone that we will have a church family meeting after the morning service on Sunday 7 May.  A more detailed agenda will follow closer to the time, but we know that an update from the Search Committee will be a core part of that time together.
 
Continuing prayer
We all very much appreciate the prayer that is going on in the church right now as we journey through change.  Let us continue to earnestly seek His face together.
 
Faye and the Leadership Team