Draft Constitution and Bylaws for review and comment by the Church body
Update (10/22/09). Below are the final copies of the church Constitution and Bylaws.
Constitution (PDF) and Bylaws (PDF)
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Update (8/9/09). Revisions below are the removal of links to the draft documents. Below are those same documents with changes to be voted on incorporated.
Constitution (PDF - for vote), and Bylaws (PDF - for vote)
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The Constitution and Bylaws committee has prepared a draft Constitution and Bylaws for review and comment by the Church body. The Committee has worked hard to make these consensus documents and they have already been reviewed by the Pastors, Church Council, all Church Committees, and the Deacons. Their suggestions and changes have been incorporated into the documents that we are now presenting to the Church for review.
Copies of these documents are available for review on the Church website (right here). Hard copies will also be available in the Atrium after the morning services on July 5th and July 12th or from the Church office. There are 3 documents presented, an Executive Summary (PDF) (Microsoft Word), Constitution (PDF – link disabled), and Bylaws (PDF – link disabled).
The Executive Summary (PDF) (Microsoft Word) provides an overview of the documents and we suggest that you read this first. There is also a comment form that we are asking everyone to use if you have comments or questions.
These forms can be filled out and emailed to constitution@sbc-va.org or sent to the church office. Response forms must be received by July 19th to allow our committee to make changes and revisions to the documents. We will then present the final documents to the Church at the August 12th Business meeting and make a motion that the Church vote on these documents at the October Business meeting. We encourage everyone to review and provide comments for these important documents.
If you do not have the free Adobe Reader, you can obtain this here.
Communications from Pastor Search Comittee
UPDATE: 4/20/10
The pastor search committee is thrilled to report that on April 18th, the church meeting in a special called business meeting, voted to call Dr. Dennis Hollandsworth to become the next senior pastor of Seaford Baptist Church with a 98% approval rating. Pastor Dennis will begin actively serving at Seaford on June 1, 2010.
UPDATE: 4/13/10
Here is the brochurce on the prospective pastor Dennis Hollandsworth.
UPDATE 3/29/10
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From Your Pastor Search Committee…
Your Pastor Search Committee is pleased to announce we are prepared to make a recommendation for the next Senior Pastor of Seaford Baptist Church. The following schedule of events has been coordinated with our Church Council and Pastoral staff:
April 4, 2010 – Announce the Prospective Pastor’s name and provide a brochure with a brief introductory biography of the Candidate and his family.
April 5, 2010 – Prospective Pastor will meet with Seaford Baptist Church Deacons.
April 11, 2010 – Re-announce the Prospective Pastor’s name and provide
brochures.
April 12, 2010 – Prospective Pastor will meet with the Church Council.
April 14, 2010 – Prospective Pastor and his wife will have Mid Week Dinner
with us and then he will bring the message during the Worship Service.
April 17, 2010 (Saturday, 3 – 5 p.m.) Family Forum in the SBC Family Life Center with Prospective Pastor and his wife.
April 18, 2010 – Prospective Pastor preaches at the Morning Worship Service.
After the service, the candidate will depart and the church will go into a business session to immediately vote on calling him to be Seaford’s next
Senior Pastor.
Please pray earnestly for God’s blessing as we discover His will for our church.
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In an effort to improve communication with the Church Body and to keep you updated on our activity, we are posting all past communications from the Pastor Search Committee. If you have any questions please send them to our committee Chair Tim Marshall at tkmarshall@cox.net
This information does not cover all of our committee meetings, business meeting presentations, meetings with committee, etc.
Following is a summary of previous communications from the PSC:
- 9/21 1st Bulletin insert with committee progress and request for prayer
The Pastor Search committee was elected by the Church Body to find the Pastor who will lead us in God’s work. Since the start of this effort we have been spiritually preparing ourselves, gathering information and praying to prepare us for this enormous task. We are in the process of gathering the following information to start this search – Church and community profile; Pastor Profile and compensation; search plan; interview and evaluation criteria. After this information is ready we will start advertising and interviewing for the position. We are not sure how long this will take but we trust God to bring us the person He has chosen in His timing. We ask that you support us during this process with your continued prayers. The committee will keep the Church informed of our progress through periodic announcements. If you have any comments please contact Tim Marshall the Committee Chairman.
- October Trumpet insert with committee progress and request for prayer
The Pastor Search committee was elected by the Church Body to find the Pastor who will lead us in God’s work. The Committee consists of Tim Marshall committee chairman, Doug Rutledge, Betty Burge, Mel Collins, Quinelle Duckett, John Elder, Russ Pratt, Linda Reviea, Rick Dupuy. Since the start of this effort we have been spiritually preparing ourselves, gathering information and praying to prepare us for this enormous task. We are in the process of gathering the following information to start this search – Church and community profile; Pastor Profile and compensation; search plan; interview and evaluation criteria. After this information is ready we will start advertising and interviewing for the position. We are not sure how long this will take but we trust God to bring us the person He has chosen in His timing. We ask that you support us during this process with your continued prayers. The committee will keep the Church informed of our progress through periodic announcements. If you have any comments please contact Tim Marshall the Committee Chairman at tkmarshall@cox.net or call him at home 833-7492
- 9/27 Bulletin insert requesting daily prayer at 0900
A Note from your PSC – please pray daily at 9:00 AM for God’s guidance as the team strives to be faithful to your calling. (Read I Timothy 3:1-7)
- 10/26 Insert into the bulletin encouraging everyone to fill out the survey and initial invitation to Family Forum.
Your Pastor Search Team has been busy preparing for the time when we will begin to consider candidates for the position of Senior Pastor. Because you have entrusted us with this monumental task we are trying to be faithful by fully preparing. That preparation includes understanding the Biblical as well as our local requirements for the job. We also need to be in a position to describe Seaford’s goals, expectations and requirements to potential candidates and to know how to evaluate candidates against those criteria.
We ask that you join us in this preparation by seeking God and searching His Word for a better understanding of both the mission of our church and the response to that mission by all who call Seaford home, including our new Senior Pastor.
Another major help to us would be for each of you to complete the on-line church health assessment survey and to join us on Wednesday November 12 for a special family forum where you can join your Seaford family in expressing your thoughts about the pastor God is preparing for us.
Grace and Peace Your Pastor Search Team
- Sunday November 2, 2008 bulletin insert with details of the Family Forum
The Pastor Search Committee would like to invite you to participate in a Family Forum on Wednesday, November 12th at 6:15PM immediately following a brief time of praise and worship. The committee is seeking the Church body’s feedback as to what we would like to see in a new pastor. This feedback will be combined with other data being generated to not only recommend a pastor to the church, but to provide him with information that will assist him in leading us. We are striving to follow God’s plans and become the church He wants us to be. We need to be obedient and listen to Him. Please join us on November 12th for a great opportunity of fellowship, growth, and hope.
- Sunday November 2, 2008 Performance of skit during the ministry emphasis portion of both morning worship services.
- Sunday November 9, 2008 at 5:00 pm: update committees progress in church bulletin and provide more info for Family Forum
Do you want to have input into the selection of the new Pastor for SBC?
Want to know what the Pastor Search Committee has been doing? Feel like you want to add your comments to developing the vision of where the Church should go? Please attend the Family Forum at 6:15 on Wednesday November 12th for an open discussion of the vision for our new pastor.
- Wednesday November 12, 2008 from 6:15-8:00 pm: Family Forum to gather pastor profile information from church body.
- Publish results of Forum in December Trumpet.
The Pastor Search Committee would like to thank everyone who attended the Family Forum on November 12th. There was a great spirit of unity at this meeting as we discussed the characteristics that we are looking for in our next pastor. We gathered a mountain of data that will help the committee as we move forward and will also be useful to the next pastor.
The general consensus of the forum was that we would prefer a Pastor who is married with children, has a minimum of a Masters degree from a seminary, and has at least 10 years of pastoral experience. In trying to classify over 200 comments from the group, the following strengths were highlighted; shepherding, spirituality, character, leadership, communication and administration along with quite a few others. There was an overwhelming agreement in the Ministry qualities that the Church was looking for in the new Pastor. In 134 response sheets turned in you wanted a leader who is an effective communicator of well prepared sermons; who has a strong vision for SBC; a gifted teacher and skilled counselor; a person who places an emphasis on discipleship and spiritual growth; and a nurturing leader who has a passion for evangelism.
All of these qualities are desired but as one commenter wrote, we need a pastor whose primary goal is to reach out to the lost and unchurched. This is truly Gods work for us and we need to keep that at the forefront of our worship to prevent us from becoming to self focused.
The committee is still evaluating this data and will continue to build on it as we move through the process that the Church has called us to. As was mentioned in this meeting, it is obvious that God is continuing to work through this Church body and each one of us needs to join Him where He is working. God will accomplish His work; we just need to be obedient so that we can join Him.
- Sunday November 30, 2008 update committee’s progress in church bulletin.
- Saturday 1/17/09 workshop meeting with Pastors and Committee Heads
- PSC bulletin insert for Sunday 1/25/09
The Pastor Search Committee held an all day workshop on 1/17/09 and met with the Pastoral staff, several Committee Chairmen, the Health Team Chairman and Evelyn Biles. We feel that the next steps that our committee will take are extremely important and we wanted to get input from these important Church leaders. This was an extremely beneficial time and we were encouraged with the direction that the Church leadership is taking to move our church forward through this transitional period. It was also encouraging to see that these committees were empowered to make the necessary improvements and modifications that will allow us to grow into the church that God wants us to be. Please pray for us as we try to discern Gods will for us as a committee and for our Church. This is a time of exciting opportunity and challenge.
- Article from Gene in the February issue of the Trumpet
On a recent Saturday, the Pastor Search Committee spent the entire day working together; talking, praying and meeting with key leaders and leadership groups. I do not know about everything they did, but early in the day, they met with Aaron, Jack, TJ and myself and asked us to talk with them about strengths and weaknesses of the church as we saw them, what we were hoping for, and what we might want to say to a new pastor. Each of us shared honestly for several minutes, doing our best to give an accurate interpretation, but certainly feeling no need to paint things as more positive than they are. However, after we had each shared, a couple of the committee members remarked that they found the experience encouraging. They noted that there is much good happening within the church and that they did not feel that the church body was generally aware of such things. Bad news tends to take on a life of its own, so together we felt the need to work harder to talk about positive things God is doing at Seaford. In doing so we’ll be following Philippians 4:8 which says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
One of us described the uniqueness of the unity among the four pastors as a strength. Another spoke of the improved work in caring for guests in our services, in how we respond to them within the services and in the communication and follow up with them after they have attended. Part of that work is the new signs both inside and outside of the building. We have first time guests in our services nearly every week and several continue to attend. We are praying about and increasing our focus on evangelism, attempting to be more intentional and God is opening more doors for this all the time. One of us spoke of the amazing people that make up the church. We genuinely are a unique church with many who are growing spiritually and many who have expertise in diverse areas as well as life experiences that are greatly valuable to the body.
Several people are leading in a greater emphasis on prayer and the continued development of a prayer ministry. The men’s ministry is recreating itself with several new faces emerging as leaders within this ministry. The Church Health Team report is in with 225 people having responded to the survey that generated the report. That is a very high percentage of participation from the body and a good sign in and of itself. The findings are both encouraging and challenging. We are looking to hear from them soon, probably in the first week of March.
Financially, of course the news isn’t all good. The church is currently running at 78% of the budget. However, this is not very different from recent history and we are keeping spending within giving levels. Concerning the mortgage, in addition to the regular payments, church members gave an additional $80,000 last year to the building fund, every dime of which went directly against the principal on the loan. In 2009, the church has matched that amount already through one-time gifts. On average, the church body is giving an additional $5000 per month to the building fund above regular tithes and offerings. Also, the stewardship committee is meeting every other week or so and are taking their work very seriously. They are looking carefully at transaction level details for every line item of our budget and are respectfully asking questions of ministry leaders, to ensure that we are using the money that God has entrusted to this body for the greatest kingdom gain.
I am not ignoring that there are problems, but that will always be true. Our instructions from God’s Word are to make a conscious choice to focus on what is good and right. I ask you to join me in choosing to think and talk about those things.
In Christ, Gene
- Updates on the PSC progress have also been given at Church business meetings and Sunday services during the Ministry emphasis
- Ministry Emphasis given after both services on 3/8/09
Here are the supporting documents that have been compiled in supporting our efforts (please note, each of these linked files below are in PDF format):
- PowerPoint (was the Family Forum presentation)
- 3 files which show the results of the polling of the body that was done during the Family Forum
- NEW (3/12/09) – Pastor Search Committee Status – March 9, 2009
Church Survey Discussion Thread
The report on the Church Survey was presented this evening at the business meeting. If you missed the meeting, please email Tom Gilson for a copy (tom DOT gilson AT cox DOT net — address obscured to reduce spam). If you have further thoughts, ideas, questions, or ideas related to the survey, please leave a comment here for discussion.
Initial Survey Results Posted!
See the survey home page (the same password applies as before).
News From the Church Health Team
The Church Health Team is nearly ready to present a church-wide survey to all members and regular attenders of Seaford Baptist Church. It has been tested with a pilot group of church members, and it’s now in final editing. The official roll-out will be on Sunday, October 19.
What is the survey for? It’s a combination of many things. It covers our involvement, our satisfaction with various aspects of the church, our understanding of basic church teachings, our ideas for outreach, our opinions on what is strong and what is lacking, and more.
How do you do the survey? Starting Sunday morning, you will have two options: Fill out the survey online, at http://www.seafordsurvey.org, or fill it out on paper forms that will be provided at the church. For the online survey you will need a username and password, which will be made known when the survey is rolled out this weekend.
You will have three weeks to complete the survey. Further instructions will be provided on the survey web page.
What will happen with the survey results? We have three purposes in mind for them:
- Inform our current church leaders on the needs, opportunities, and opinions of our church members and regular attenders.
- Provide information to the Pastor Search Team that will help them with their search task.
- Give feedback to you on what the church is saying and thinking. A report will be made available to the entire church body.
Is there more feedback being sought from the church? Definitely yes! We are arranging for Don Cockes, our area SBCV missionary, to come with a team of objective outsiders and spend focused time speaking with every person who has something to share. They will take notes and report back to us on what the church has told them. We don’t know the exact times and dates yet, but we’ll let you know as soon as possible.
What else is the Church Health Team working on? We’re studying what it means to be a healthy church, for one thing. And we’re conducting community studies so we can have a better idea how to bring the truth and love of Christ to the church. Later on we’ll be working with staff and lay leaders of the church to try to bring clearer definition to the church’s mission and direction.
Church Health Team: What Are Your Questions?
One of the first tasks of the Church Health Team is to evaluate how our church is doing. We’re preparing a church-wide survey questionnaire for that purpose. You can help us with it by letting us know of questions that you think should be included. Is there some aspect of the church’s current condition you think we should look into? Then we want to hear from you. Here’s how:
- You may respond by posting a comment here or by emailing it to Tom Gilson, at tom DOT gilson AT cox DOT net (I’ve obscured that address to keep it from being picked up by spammers).
- You don’t need to phrase it as a survey question. Just let us know the area of interest, and we’ll take care of the wording.
Here are some ground rules before you answer:
- If you post it here on the blog, please make sure it’s a question and not an opinion, because this is not the right forum for dealing with potentially controversial opinions.
- That also means to please avoid posting opinions disguised as questions (e.g., “Why does so-and-so do things in such a nonsensical way?”).
- Note also that this is about the church’s general condition, not things like (for example), “What happened at the business meeting?”
- If you have an opinion to express (rather than a question), you may email it to the address already given. It will be shared with the entire Church Health Team, but otherwise held in confidence.
- The team will make the final decision as to which questions are included in the questionnaire.
Thank you!
The Church Health Team
Last night the new Church Health Team held its first meeting. The Church Health Team (CHT) has been formed to aid the church in its transition to new leadership, by providing a careful assessment of who we are as a church and where we believe God is leading us. Many other churches have learned through experience how important this can be, to help in working through a church’s current opportunities and struggles, and to help the Pastor Search Committee in its crucial work of selecting the right person for the church.
The CHT’s purpose and plans are outlined in the graphic you see below (click here or on the image for a larger version). We will come to you, the members of the church, for your input on the Church Heritage and the Church Assessment. You can expect to see this beginning within just a couple weeks from now. We’re confident you’ll be encouraged by the process as well as by the results. We do not have an expected date of final completion yet, but you can be assured we all feel a strong sense of urgency about it.
Current team members are Tom Gilson, Terry Roberts, Lisa Elburn, Mike Hall, David Jones, Scott Beasley, and Scott Morelen. More members may be joining us in the next month. If you have questions, concerns, or ideas, please contact any one of us. We’re eager to hear from you, and we’ll keep you posted on our activities through this blog and through the Trumpet.
