april 2013 - First Baptist Church Midland, TX

Ministers Monthly Report to Church Council
APRIL, 2013
Randel Everett
Pastor
Bob Billups
Senior Associate Pastor
April 15, 2013
Our Membership Committee with Chairman John Quisenberry is hard at work in
preparation for our 2013 Pictorial Directory. Photo Sessions will begin next Tuesday,
April 23rd and ending June 8th accounting for 38 days of photography. Photo sessions
will be 2-9 pm on weekdays, 9:30 am – 4 pm on Saturdays and 12:00 pm – 7:00 pm on
Sundays. At this time there are over 500 families signed up for a photo session.
The renovation of the Fellowship Hall is about 40% complete. The HVAC system
has been ordered and is scheduled to arrive in the middle of May. The texture and
paint on the walls will be similar to the new Welcome Center. I have been told that we
are still on schedule for the project to be completed by June 1. Good news for all of our
VBS volunteers.
Our Personnel sub-committee has met three times in the last few weeks to review, edit
and proof the new Personnel Policies and Procedures. This is a 76 page document.
The sub-committee is doing a great job reviewing and discussing details of this policy.
After completion a smaller employee “handbook” will also be created.
Paul Ross has agreed to lead the new “Guest Services” team which will bring all of
our Sunday morning “greeting” groups under one umbrella. This group will consist of
inside and outside greeters, parking lot greeters and attendants, ushers, valet parking,
welcome center host/hostesses, etc… We want to develop an organized strategy to
make our guests feel welcome every Sunday morning from the moment they arrive in
our parking lots.
The FBC Ministry Staff just returned from our annual Spring Staff Retreat. This year
we retreated April 8-10 at the Great House Retreat Center in Junction, Texas. The
Blaylocks and the Chapmans were the perfect hosts. Our staff spent time sharing and
discussing visions & dreams for their particular ministry in the years to come at FBC.
The final punch list repairs for our new buildings are underway. Hopefully the entire
building project will be officially completed within the next 2 weeks. Working with Jim
Hansen & Cooper Construction has been a great experience. They are both first class!
You will find our new parking lot banners mounted on 14 light poles. Two scripture
banners are mounted on each pole for a total of 28 scripture messages, front and back.
Thanks to Darrell Dunton for designing these beautiful banners.
It is an honor to serve this great church. Thank you for the opportunity.
David Johnson
Associate Pastor
April 11, 2013
In the past month I have made approximately 118 hospital visits, made 9 home visits,
made 7 phone calls and prayed with members on the phone, and assisted with 5
funerals. I had the privilege of baptizing 4 and I led two Nursing Home services (Parks
Methodist in Odessa and Manor Park in Midland). I also helped with the Family Promise
ministry (spending the night on Saturday) and was privileged to bring a family of three to
visit at FBC the next morning!
A word of appreciation goes to Bob Hopkins, Jerry Rogers, and G.A. Magee for making
hospital visits while I was away on Staff Retreat.
Gene Hilburn
Family Life Ministry
March 2013
Spring Break: I took vacation time for Spring Break and Phyllis and I went to NYC. It
was such a great time “away” and we were privileged to hear and see our son sing at
Carnegie Hall with the DBU Choir. Even though I was off I went ahead and had four
sessions before leaving Midland.
Counseling Appointments: In March I had twenty-six counseling sessions and six
supervision sessions.
LPC & LMFT Supervision: The two interns are doing excellent work. When we review
cases I’m impression with their professionalism and abilities. What is very encouraging
is their teachable spirit. When I make suggestions or corrections they both are
cooperative and agreeable. In fact when I give them “pointers” from my experience they
express gratitude. I is such a joy working with both of them.
Sunday Duties: It’s been mentioned so many times and I really don’t have much to
add. I did substituted as teacher for the Simon Sunday school class for the month of
March (except for the17th).
Vietnam Project: We had our second organizational meeting concerning our effort to
establish seminary training in Vietnam. The meeting attendees consisted of; Dr. Bruce
Corley, Dr. Gene Wilks, Dr. Tran, Dr. Everett, Bill Holmes, Bill Johnson, Dr. John
Copeland, myself and a couple of others. The project is an ambitious endeavor and we
believe the Lord is blessing our efforts. As this progress I will continue to give a report
on its success. I feel so honored to be included to participate and give in put.
Divorce Care: Brian Bledsoe continues to give leadership to this vital ministry. We had
a planning lunch and I was encouraged by his dedication and foresight. Many have
been ministered to for over twenty years. I pray that it will continue to be a safe place for
those who are going through or have gone through the tragedy of divorce. We are
planning to offer Divorce Care through the summer.
Grief Share: Mickey Trimble has done a bang up job! She has been so faithful to
continue to offer this ministry to individuals who have suffered the loss of a loved one.
She will finish the group session April 08. The groups have been fairly small but
consistent.
Counseling Center: We are in the process of remodeling and updating the House of
Hope. Originally the House of Hope ministries were for group and crisis support
ministries. Due to the remodel of the Worship Center the counseling ministry had to be
re-located to the H of H. As a result the purpose of the building had to be re-designed to
accommodate a counseling ministry. I wanted to adopt the educational model the Dr.
Everett has lead us to be involved in and started the LPC and LMFT supervision / Intern
program. The rooms are being remodeled to accommodate counseling sessions instead
of group meeting rooms. This is so important due to HIPAA law were confidentiality is a
must. Even the way we store records has to be conformed to the new HIPAA laws. First
Baptist Church has been and is still on the cutting edge of meeting the needs of its
membership and community. There will be a name change from House of Hope to First
Baptist Counseling Center.
I must express my deepest appreciation to Dr. Everett, Bob Billups, Jim Hanson and
Janabeth Cook who have given great support to this ministry and the remodel project. It
is so important that a professional and a professional setting greet clients who come for
help. I will continue report on the progress of this project.
Paul Byrom
Minister of Adult Education
EDUCATION MINISTRY
March 2013
PAUL BYROM, MINISTER OF EDUCATION
[email protected]
432-683-0603
information
•
Minister of Young Adults and Singles Adults: Moses is off and running. This month he was able to comment with many of the departments and ministries and attend on Sundays. •
Over 40 volunteers were recruited as Weekday Welcome Center Hosts. I had training for over 30 of those hosts and they have begun serving. It is a lot of fun and they are meeting a real need in the church. •
I am pleased to announce two new adult directors. The Cooke’s are replacing the Parker’s in the Grace Department and the McCaghren’s in the David Department. •
Kudos to Vernon who just completed teaching a teacher training class. We had a good attendance and look forward to the current teachers that were trained and some that might become future teachers. •
Sunday School August Numerical Summary Avg.
Attend
SS year
Avg.
Attend.
Mar 2012
Avg.
Enrolled
Avg.
Attend.
2746
1458
100
100
105
47
47
47
Child Development Center
115
115
116
Children's Day Out Enrollment
130
130
138
3138
1850
Sunday School
Main Campus
Mission Midland
Agape (Homebound)
1373
1351
Other Education
Total
1765
1757
Month
Sunday School members
joined the church
Total visitors recorded
‘9/11-8/12
23
59
510
2237
Moses Caesar
Minister to Young Adults and Single Adults
Young Single Adults
GAP Class will be renamed Timothy (by wishes of the GAP council members) to match
the church Sunday School model of Biblical names. Timothy Class leadership met to
plan a five month calendar last week. Leadership Teams are being formed to implement
leadership within the class on three levels: Inreach, Sunday Morning Space &Time,
Calendar. I met with Leadership Council and Teachers/Directors to move through
above items. We are all on the same page. Two signature events were also agreed on:
The Venue (beginning May 12 on Sunday Nights 7:30-9:30pm) is an internal intramural
sports fellowship; and Mosaic (working name) is a regional gathering of singles in their
20s and 30s every Tuesday Night for worship and message beginning in the Fall.
As reported in the last letter to the council, a New Class will start in the Young Single
Adult Department that will provide a place for Singles in their late 20s and early 30s.
Forming team is meeting every Tuesday night until class start. This class will get some
of its participants from the Timothy Class, some from the Pathfinders Class in the
singles ministry and are being challenged to get a third of their participants from outside
of our Sunday School system. Members of the Timothy Class who have long felt too
old for their class and too young for the singles department are very excited for this
middle world we are creating. We anticipate 40 in the first class meeting on May 12th.
Teachers and Directors should be in place by next April 14th. The entire Young Singles
Department will have a Launch Lunch for this class and to celebrate their department on
May 19th If you would like to attend this lunch, please let us know. The new class will be
called Genesis and will share the same calendar with Timothy Class.
Young Married Adults
The three classes in this department are doing great with their mission and calendar.
Last Tuesday, the Song of Solomon Class (Robbie Campbell visions and effort) had
marriage enrichment dinner where about 60 attend and were blessed with great food,
program and truths about marriage. This marriage enrichment dinner will be held every
other month.
Directors in this department are wonderfully proactive seeking to grow and disciple their
participants. We are blessed by this leadership in our church family.
Single Adults
Single Adults had their first retreat event recently. The successful event with 11 singles
brought some wind back into the sails of the singles ministry because it hit its goal of fun
and spiritually meaningful. We are busy with the development of the leadership
structure in the three classes of this department and dreaming about where God is
taking it.
Beginning in June, we will implement a signature event called First Fridays. This is a
regional gathering of single adults ages 30+ to be held in the fellowship hall. This will be
a two hour event with music, food, organized fellowship activities and a message.
Please pray for the development of the leadership teams, program personalities and our
publicity efforts.
Our critical need in the single adult department is adult couple leaders who can serve
as teachers and directors. Please continue to pray for our search and share this need
with others.
Sarah Arrambide
Children’s Minister
April 12, 2013
Greeting in the name of the Lord! These past few months have just been incredible, not
only for our church but for our children. Many children have prayed to receive Christ in
the past several months and have been baptized. It is such a joy for everyone involved
in the Children’s Ministry to work with kids and partner with their parents in raising
children who love and serve the Lord.
Sunday School
Attendance in Sunday School, especially since we have moved into the new building,
has been great. But there is always room for more kiddos! We are blessed to have
such wonderful Sunday School teachers who give so much of their time, talents, money
and commitment to teach the children in their classrooms.
Grade Level Parties
Since the last report, we have had two grade level parties. Fourth through sixth graders
enjoyed a few hours of skating at KC Nutty Roller. There were 125 in attendance!!!
The kids had a blast and so did their teachers.
We also had a party for third and fourth graders at the AB. There were 53 kids in
attendance and they all had a great time. I measure the success of a party by the large
number of kids that don’t want to go home when mom and dad pick them up. We had
many kiddos that wanted to stay.
Preteens
We began the eight week Experiencing God study with our fifth and sixth graders.
There are 13 who attend regularly on Sunday evenings from 6-7. I asked Christian
Nichles to teach and he is doing a great job. He relates very well with our preteens.
Sixth graders will be attending a retreat April 26-27 at Circle 6 in Stanton. Please pray
for them and their leaders. The sixth grade teachers and I will be leading the Bible
Studies, Moses Caesar will be our speaker and Nathan Woodard and the student praise
band will lead in worship.
VBS
It’s right around the corner!!! As of today, 110 children have already been registered
online to attend! Online registration has only been open for 1 ½ weeks. Pray that more
people step up to help.
Lori Zettler
Minister of Preschool Education
George Koehl
Minister of Music
Bill Johnson and Hank Henry
Missions Ministry
Launch of B.H. Carroll Seminary
In Vietnam
March 2013
In September 2012, we began conversations with B.H. Carroll, (BHC) Seminary leaders
concerning the possibility of launching a seminary in Vietnam. BHC is an accredited
Baptist seminary, utilizing internet and digital media to equip “men and women called to
serve Christ in the diverse and global ministries of His church”,
(http://www.bhcarroll.edu/mission). They do not establish brick and mortar campuses.
Dr. Everett introduced FBC to B.H. Carroll and we have come to believe that they
should be one of our key strategic mission partners to help us train and equip
indigenous pastors and church leaders, (this is one of FBC’s six mission priorities).
Vietnam is one of the six regions in the world we’ve identified as FBC’s kingdom
assignments. This is based on many factors, the most obvious and convincing of which
is our involvement and partnership with Vietnamese Bible Inc. (VBI). FBC is the church
where the vision was born to translate the Vietnamese Bible. This 25 year undertaking
became a reality 2002 with the completion of the New Vietnamese Bible. The first Bible
in the Vietnamese language translated from the original Hebrew and Greek. Now there
are several variations of this Bible in print and copies are reaching close to one million.
But there is a tremendous void in Vietnam for Biblically trained pastors and leaders.
The last school of theology closed in 1975 with the entrenchment of communism in
Vietnam. The graduates of that class are approaching 70 years of age. The time is right
and the time is now to establish an accredited theological training program in that
country.
As we’ve met with leaders from BHC and VBI to explore this vision, we have been
amazed at the providential hand of God in bringing together the leaders, teachers,
translators and resources to make this seminary a reality in the near future. One key
player is Dr. Daniel DaO Tran. Dr. Tran is on the board for VBI and has served as one
of the translators for the Vietnamese Bible. Daniel has already established four training
centers in Vietnam to equip church leaders and pastors to attain a non-accredited
certificate in theological studies. His theological training program is called, Vietnam
Baptist Theological School, (VBTS). One of Daniel’s teachers with VBTS is Dr. Gene
Wilkes, a pastor in the Dallas area who also is a BHC professor. As we’ve met, the
leaders of BHC have formulated a plan to integrate the VBTS curriculum into their
accredited Master Degree programs. VBTS graduates seeking an accredited Masters
degree or PHD, will be able to enroll in the BHC programs. The key element in both
VBTS and BHC is that the curriculum, including textbooks, will be translated and taught
in Vietnamese. By offering these accredited Masters programs in the heart language of
the Vietnamese leaders, the training they receive will be more readily reproduced in the
lives of those to whom they are ministering. This will enable the effective multiplication
of Biblically literate disciples in the Vietnamese church.
This endeavor will be a partnership between FBC, Vietnamese Bible Inc. (VBI), B.H.
Carroll Seminary (BHC) and Vietnamese Baptist Theological School (VBTS). Dr.
Everett and I believe our church should lead the way as a flagship church in the
establishment of this seminary in Vietnam.
Because of God’s provision through the HOPE1:8 mission fund, FBC will contribute
$150,000 to launch B.H. Carroll in Vietnam and provide their first year of operational
expenses. We will also make it one of FBC’s primary strategic HOPE1:8 projects to
seek to raise an additional $100,000 for BHC-Vietnam for an additional two years for
their operational expenses.
We give thanks and praise to the Lord for allowing our church to be a part of His great
plan to reach all nations for Christ by equipping indigenous leaders!