Pastor's Corner
April 2004
Dear Church Family:
I'd like to use this article this month to give some "updates" on where we are with some items that have been pending for awhile and to just share some general information.
The Search For An Assistant Pastor
From the beginning of the year (and really before) the Deacons have been prayerfully and carefully looking for someone for this position. To date there have been 5 candidates that we have spoken to about the position. All 5 are involved in full-time Christian work. As we spoke with each candidate we received the same answer - "We want to stay with our current ministry." So we are still searching for whom the Lord has for us. We have several names and we are taking them as God has brought them to us. Please continue to pray for our leadership in this process. With our church growth, the need for this position becomes more evident every day. Pray that God would give us an excellent "match" of a persons gifts with our needs. Pray that whomever the Lord has will sense a wonderful call to serve the Lord and the wonderful people (that would be you!) at Ustick Baptist Church!
The Revised Church Constitution
It has been months ago that we shared with the church that the revision of our church constitution is underway. Well, the revision, (after a ton of hard work) is complete and the Deacons have approved it. We are currently working to get copies made for the congregation. Our goal is to have the congregation vote to consider approval of the revised constitution at our May congregational meeting. Before then we plan to make copies available for your review and we will have a "listening" meeting scheduled to answer questions and to make comments on the revised constitution.
The major changes in the constitution will be to call the present Deacons "Elders" and to add the position of "Deacons" as a new ministry of service in the church. The main reason for this change is to bring our church more in line with the polity we see as expressed in Scripture. Please note that the fundamental structure of congregational input working with the leadership that Ustick has functioned under for all these years is not changing. There will be a paper I prepared for the Deacons regarding church structure and leadership available with the Revised Constitution that will help explain these changes. Please listen for the announcements regarding this information that will be forthcoming soon. Thank you for your patience!
On a final note I wanted to mention that this April marks 16 years that Jeanelle and I (and our family) have had the privilege of serving you and the Lord in this ministry! It hardly seems possible! We are more excited than ever in serving with you in this great church fellowship! Thank you for all these years of service, love, support and encouragement. God is so good and we praise Him for calling us to ministry and specifically to Ustick Baptist Church! As Paul said of the Thessalonians we say of you (I Thessalonians 1:2) -
"We give thanks to God always for all of you ..."
Serving with you,
P.S.
Please plan to join us for our Easter celebration, April 11th. We have 2 worship services: 8:15a.m. and 10:30a.m. We are looking forward to a wonderful celebration of our Lord's Resurrection through music and the Word!
