Youth Pastor Update

The Youth Pastor Search Committee has prayerfully spent the past several months seeking the young man God has called to be our youth pastor. Throughout the process we kept three things foremost in our minds: Character, Competency, and Chemistry. This led our Search Committee to a unanimous decision to call Tim as our youth pastor.

Tim is married to Ashlee, and they have a 3 month old daughter named Sadie. Both Tim and Ashlee graduated from the University of Arkansas, and they are huge Razorback fans. Tim is originally from the Ft. Worth area, and he graduated from Southwestern Seminary in 2014. Tim is currently serving as youth pastor in Oklahoma, and he has around six years of youth ministry experience. His hobbies include golf, football, ping pong, basketball, and softball. Lastly, it is obvious in talking with Tim that he has a passion for students.

We have invited Tim and his family to come in view of a call September 16^th through 18^th, and we are very excited for you to meet them. The church will vote on Tim as youth pastor on Sunday morning, September 18. The Search Team knows it is important for our church family, especially students and their parents, to get to spend some time with Tim and his family. Here is what the weekend will look like:

· Friday, September 16 – I will take the family to the Jacksonville vs. Sylvan Hills football game. Please come by and introduce yourself if you see us.

· Saturday, September 17 – Meet and greet with the church from 3:00-4:30. At 4:30, we will take Tim and his family with the students to Retrocade. We should finish there around 6:00. We will return to the church around 6:30 to watch the Razorback football game in Fellowship Hall. We will eat pizza and hang out until the game is over.

· Sunday, September 18 – Tim will teach a short lesson during Sunday School, and then we will give students time to ask him questions. The family will attend the second service, and then we will move to Fellowship Hall after the service. We will have a church wide luncheon so Tim can address any questions the church may have for him. When the Q&A time is finished, we will have a business meeting and vote.

I would ask a couple things. First, the 3:00-4:30 meet-and-greet is for anyone and everyone in the church. The Retrocade and football game are for our youth only. They will get to spend time with Tim, and he will get an opportunity to know them as well. Second, remember that lots of people want to get to know Tim and his family, so please be considerate of others so everyone has an opportunity meet them.

This is an exciting time for our church and especially for our youth ministry. Tim is an exceptional young man and you will see in him the qualities that led the search team to recommend him to our church. I hope you and your student(s) will be able to participate the weekend of September 16-18.

In Christ,

Mark Smith, Pastor of FBC Jacksonville

Deacon Nomination Process

About a year ago, our deacons began to wrestle two questions. First, what are we really doing as a deacon body? Second, how do we raise up other men to be deacons in our church? In response to these questions, I met with a man from the State Convention to inquire about how deacons need to serve and what process to implement to raise up other men to serve in this capacity. The first thing we did at the beginning of this year was to identify three areas where the deacons could come alongside the staff and assist us. Then, we formed three groups of deacons to fill each of those needs. The three areas are hospital visits, nursing home/assisted living visits, and bereavement ministry.

We also began discussing an election process. Here are some of the reasons we are moving to this process. We realized that some of our deacons are older, and they expressed a desire to become inactive. As a result, we felt the need to elect some younger deacons. In addition, we came to the conclusion that serving for three years may encourage some men to serve that might hesitate to serve if it was a lifelong commitment. Each man will serve three years. This means four men will rotate on/off each year.

A letter was sent to all members a few weeks ago. The letter explained the process and also included a deacon nomination form. If you misplaced the form, you can get an additional one in the office, and some extras will be next to the nomination box in the foyer. Here are the key dates you need to be aware of:

• September 11 - Deadline for nominations
• You can only submit one form with four men's names and your signature. All men nominated must be 21 years or older and a member of the church.
• September 12 - Letter to nominees
• The deacons will send a letter to all men nominated. This letter will include information regarding qualifications and what is expected of a deacon. If they are not interested in serving or do not meet the qualifications, then they can contact the church to have their name removed.
• September 26 - Nominee interviews begin
• At this point, the deacons will contact the remaining men to schedule an interview.
• October 23 - Nominees in bulletin
• We will publish the nominees in the bulletin so the church will know who they can vote to become deacons.
• November 6 - Church vote
• We will call a business meeting at the end of both services to vote on the nominees. The four men elected will be contacted during the week, and we will announce them to the church on November 13.
• December 4 - Ordination (if needed)
• If any of the men elected have not been ordained, we will have an ordination service at 5pm.

I hope you will join with me in a season of prayer as we prepare for our deacon nominations.

In Christ,

Mark Smith, Pastor of FBC Jacksonville, AR