LFB Family Meeting - May 18, 2018

Meeting Agenda

1. Opening (Tony)

- Greeting

- Prayer

- Confirm meeting purpose: Discussing church governance transition

2. Vision Reminder (Sean)

- Read January vision statement

- Explain current elder-led journey

- Highlight church commitment to biblical principles

3. Deacon and Leadership Development (Adam)

- Current elder structure

- Five key elder roles

- Vision for developing church leadership

- Need for administrative support

4. Constitutional Review (Hutch)

So I suspect a number of you start to get very nervous when there is any talk about amending or changing our church constitution. And since, after scripture, it is the governing document that describes the mission of our church and the ways in which will go about doing the mission. So I just want to offer a few words to explain where we the Elders are headed with this. First of all, we have no intention of re-writing our constitution and I am not going to go into any great detail this morning. For the most part it is a solid document. For example, let me read you the Preamble to our constitution.

Preamble

We, the members of First Baptist Church of Lebanon, Oregon, purpose to be organized as closely as possible to the New Testament pattern of church life.As such, we recognize the Bible as our authority, guide, and true constitution. This Constitution and Bylaws, as written here,are not intended in any way to replace or to add to the Word of God (I like that a LOT! (Rev. 22:18,19). It (the constitution & Bylaws) is conceived for the following purposes:

· To state those fundamental and essential doctrines of the Christian faith that we believe ought never to be compromised;

· To define the nature of the church as a covenant community;

· To state our mission as a church;

· To state the qualifications, privileges, and responsibilities of membership and leadership in this body;

· To facilitate orderliness, understanding, communication, and unity in the exerciseof church ministries.

For these reasons this Constitution and Bylaws is intended to be an implementation of Scripturally based principles, embracing the true meaning of God's Word.

Again, very good. And then if we look at ...

Article 5. Authority and Government

In authority and government:

· This church is a self-governing body, autonomous from all other church bodies.This church, as a part of a covenant community of Northwest Conservative Baptist churches, and in cooperation with other churches of like faith will cooperate for the purpose of facilitating its mission.

· The form of government for this church shall be Elder led, congregationally affirmed. The congregationally affirmed Elders have biblically granted authority, responsibility, and accountability. The congregation, as the temple of the Holy Spirit, affirms the leadership of the Elders. There are decisions in which the congregants contribute in helping the Elders find/discern the mind of Christ.

Again, I like that as well. All of this lines up with scripture. And the truth is, this is exactly the way this church has been functioning for the past few years.

But when it comes to language found in Articles B and C of the Bylaws, some adjustment will be necessary to bring it into alignment with the preamble and the stated form of government in Article 5 that I just read. Specifically that we are to be an Elder led church and we are to be affirmed by you the congregation.

And most of this adjustment will be around the language of Senior Pastor and Associate pastor. This is where we believe our constitution departs from the preamble and Article 5.

The problem with our constitution as we see it is that no pastoral office exists in scripture. No such thing as a “senior pastor” In fact the word Pastor only appears once in all of scripture and it is on the context of teaching and shepherding.

The whole idea of Senior Pastor and Associate Pastor has no precedence in scripture.

I know that there are some in the church who believe that the church cannot function without someone in charge. And I agree with that. For the Church, that someone is Jesus and our guiding document is scripture.

That much is recognized in the preamble of our constitution.

The truth is, for the past 21 months, this church has been lead and overseen by a plurality of Elders and no one of us has been in charge. Just like our constitution states and, from our standpoint it has been working very well. I have heard from many of you that you feel the same.

I also know that many of you consider me to be the “Senior Pastor”, mostly because I am the guy up front here on Sunday mornings more Sundays than not. But i want you to know that have not, not has any other of your Elders functioned as the Senior Pastor described in our constitution, so we want to fix that.

Over the Next 3 months we will be very transparent with the congregation about the proposed changes as we work on this and you will have an opportunity to vote on what we do in September.

The Covenant of the Members of First BaptistChurch of Lebanon

As members of Lebanon First Baptist Church we covenant together as an expression of the body of Christ, acknowledging our God ordained,covenantal relationship united in and centered around Christ.

Holding in common our doctrine, identity and philosophy of ministry, we agree to a relationship expressed in dependence upon, responsibility for, and accountability to each otherby God’s grace.

We commit to share our lives by serving in our giftedness, stewarding our resources, praying for each other and embodying the gospel in Home Communities. We also committo partner with other churches of like faith and practice both locally and globally.

In acknowledgement of this Covenant,by the aid of the Holy Spirit,we agree to this church’sDoctrinal Statement and we submit ourselves to the leadership of the church.

- Need for alignment with biblical governance

- Proposed changes overview

5. Missionary Updates & Congregational Affirmation Process for September

(Keith & Silvestre)

- Brief mission work updates

-Castanada Family and LFB Hispanic Ministry Update (Silvestre)

- Demonstrate ongoing ministry commitment

- Explain September vote

- Transparency in decision-making

- Opportunity for congregational input

7. Q&A Panel (All Elders)

- Open floor for questions

- Collaborative responses

- Demonstrate elder plurality in action

8. Closing (Scott)

- Reaffirm mission

- Prayer

- Invite continued dialogue