Whenever a church is without a Senior Pastor, it is a very vulnerable time. There are several options for filling the pulpit and the leadership role that has been vacated by the former Pastor. According to Lifeway, the average time that a church spends without a Pastor is between 9 and 18 months. So much can happen during that time that could affect the church either positively or negatively. A Transitional Pastor can help the church stay focused on its mission and keep from becoming complacent during the intervening time.

A church can choose to let staff members fill the pulpit. If you have a large enough staff to get a decent rotation going then this can work. However, it is possible that the preaching ability of the staff may not always be what the church body expects.  It is important in a large church, that the quality of the preaching remain high. If not, there can be an extreme drop off in attendance. Another danger of allowing staff members to fill the pulpit is the natural tendency of many church members to want to present one of the staff members to the Search Committee as a candidate. This seldom works out and the normal result is that the staff member is not voted in, and the church is left fractured by the process with quite a few hard feelings. The staff member is usually put in the position of having to resign since he has become the focal point of division.

A church can choose to schedule multiple preachers and speakers fill the pulpit in the interim. The positive side of this is that the church family may get to hear many preachers they would never have been able to hear otherwise. The downside of this method is who will be scheduling these speakers. It becomes a very daunting task to schedule fresh speakers every week. Another problem with this method is the inconsistency in the pulpit. People do not know from one week to the next who is scheduled. People are not able to develop a relationship with the speaker as they are with a Pastor or Interim Pastor. This situation tends to lead to a great deal of uncertainty for most people in the pew.

Many churches choose to secure an Interim Pastor. Often it is a local retired pastor. They are able to fill the pulpit and assist the Search Committee. Depending on the Interim Pastor, often some in the congregation will want to make this person the Pastor. They will often approach the Search Committee with this suggestion. If the church has not already discussed this option with the Interim Pastor ahead of time, it can cause some division in the church if the Interim Pastor has any desire to become the Pastor. For this reason a church should be sure not to secure anyone as the Interim Pastor that they might consider as a Senior Pastor. Unfortunately, many churches suffer from a real sense of insecurity, so that whenever there is no Senior Pastor in place, many members will want to take whoever fills the pulpit in a halfway decent way, and make him the Pastor. In a sense, they are saying it is better to have this person than no one.  People have to learn to trust the Lord and the Search Committee they have selected and learn to live with a certain amount of tension. 

A better option for most churches is a Transitional Pastor. A Transitional Pastor is similar to an Interim Pastor in many ways.  Most Transitional Pastors have been trained for that purpose. They tend to be experienced Pastors at some point.  They tend to be capable in the pulpit and with relationship skills. They have the leadership skills to lead the church staff and lay leaders in the direction they should go in order to be ready for the arrival of the new Pastor. In many cases, they are able to deal with problems in the church body, so that when the newly called Pastor arrives, he does not have to deal with them. Those problems might include confronting a church boss, making a difficult change, organizing a ministry structure, developing the church’s stewardship, and more. A Transitional Pastor comes in with a set salary which may be close, but slightly less than a full time Pastor. He will set a schedule of office hours and ministry times for the church. He will sign a contract with the church for a set period of time and in that contract agree that he will not be considered for the position of Senior Pastor.  By signing a contract with clearly defined job description, schedule, salary, time limits, and agreements for non-consideration, he enables the Search Committee to be able to proceed without worry about someone causing division in their church. He also is able to provide leadership to the congregation during this time and hopefully prevent the church losing attendance.

The story is told that several years ago; a preacher from out-of-state accepted a call to a church in Houston, Texas.  Some weeks after he arrived, he had an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area.  When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change.

As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, "You'd better give the quarter back.  It would be wrong to keep it."  Then he thought, "Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount?  Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it.  Accept it as a 'gift from God' and keep quiet."
When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, and then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, "Here, you gave me too much change."
 
The driver, with a smile, replied, "Aren't you the new preacher in town?  I have been thinking a lot lately about going somewhere to worship.  I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change.  I'll see you at church on Sunday."
    
When the preacher stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, "Oh God, I almost sold your Son for a quarter."
     
You’ve heard it said, “Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read.”  This is a really scary example of how much people watch us as Christians and will put us to the test!  Not all are trying to trick us with a quarter.  Always be on guard and remember that you carry the name of Christ on your shoulders when you call yourself "Christian."

     Watch your thoughts; they become words.
     Watch your words; they become actions.
     Watch your actions; they become habits.
     Watch your habits; they become character.
     Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

In recent months have you ever sold Jesus for a quarter or a word or an action?

Make  it right … with God and man.

 I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship.   Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.    Roman 12:1-2 (NIV)

This is a sad and difficult week. I admire and understand the decision of our Pastor, because I know how difficult this decision was for him. But it leaves us with a tremendous loss. I wish our Pastor and Elliott well. They deserve it. God will direct their paths. We will pray for, support and encourage them. We will seek their prayers for us, as I know the extent of their love for First Baptist Church and their desire to see this church succeed.

It is in these times that church leadership and unity is critical. Your church staff and church leaders understand this and will continue to serve our God and this church as best we can.  Decisions will be made in the very near future with regard to the pastor’s position. We earnestly seek your prayers and support as we enter into this time of transition.

The first thing we want to do is to say goodbye to a wonderful and able pastor who has served this church for 25 years. During my time here at First Baptist, I have marveled at the respect and admiration for our pastor in this church and community.  He is well known and well loved. To honor his ministry for these many years, we are planning a joint recognition service for Hal and Elliott on Sunday morning, May 15th at 10:30 am.  Following that service, we will have a church-wide dinner in their honor.

As a part of that recognition service, we invite you to:

• Write a personal note or letter to Hal and Elliott before May 15th
  
• Participate in a church-wide love offering for our Pastor. You can turn this in with your church offering – just be sure to clearly mark it “Love Offering”.
  
• Share with the church office any significant stories, pictures, or memories that may be used at the recognition service or dinner.
  
• Help with the planning and preparation of this event.
  

More details will follow.

The second task will be to continue the immediate work and ministry of the church in a manner pleasing to God.  The deacons, staff and other church leadership will work to see that all immediate needs are met to the best of our ability. We ask for your patience as we make this transition and we gladly accept any help from the congregation. One thing we will not be able to do is to give you the same care and attention that Hal gave to you and your families through the years. His knowledge and heart-felt concern for you will be impossible to duplicate.

The third task will be to implement a process for the church during this transition time.  Due to the fact that this church has not had a lot of experience in this regard, we will call on our Association and State leadership to assist us in this task.  It may take a couple of months to put a plan together, but we will be diligent in this effort.

The final task will be to find God’s person to lead First Baptist Church for the future.  This is an extremely important decision for our church.  We need to get this right, so we will take the time to deliberate and seek out God’s will.  Your patience and prayers during this time will be critical to the success of this decision.

We are all in this together.  With your help, this transition time will make FBC stronger and more able to meet the needs of the future.  Hal and Elliott West have served us faithfully for many years.  We will miss them deeply.  They will not be forgotten, and the impact of their ministry here at FBC will continue for many years to come.

Dear Church Family,

Sunday was a great day of celebration and joy as we gathered together and worshipped the Living God and the Risen Savior. Easter Sunday is the high point of a Christian’s worship experience and the foundational truth of our faith. Although the truth and power of Easter is always with us, Easter Sunday is a day of celebrating new life, new beginnings, and new hope.

It is in the spirit of Easter that I share with you my decision to resign as your pastor effective May 15, 2011.

As I shared with you in recent days, the Lord had strongly impressed upon me the need for fresh, new leadership. Nothing has changed that impression, and my prayer has continued to be that God would use me to steer our church toward renewal. So it is in keeping with that leading from the Lord, and in being true to that prayer, that I offer my resignation at this time.

For the church, this is an opportunity for new life, new beginnings, and new hope. The same is true for Elliott and me. It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve First Baptist Church, but we are filled with hope and a sense of anticipation of a new beginning in ministry. We will take some time in the days ahead to prayerfully consider exactly where the Lord is leading us.

Please know that our love for First Baptist will always be strong, and our gratitude for the love and support we have enjoyed through the years will never diminish. Undoubtedly, the church is facing some difficult days and severe challenges ahead. However, always remember that we are an Easter people, and the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, is available to resurrect the ministry and mission of First Baptist Church. Elliott and I pledge our continued prayer to that end.

In His love,

Hal West

Let's push the envelope this morning. Here's the question: are there times in redemptive history when the church has been a hindrance to the extension of the Kingdom?

This is more than a fair question and goes much deeper than mere academic inquiry. Around the world missiologists indicate Christian spiritual awakening, millions of people responding to the Good News and becoming Christ followers. This data is reported mostly in nations accounted as "unreached" people groups, usually places where entrenched church tradition is rare. On the other hand, previously Christian "churched" locales, like Great Britain, France, and of course, the United States, are in decline. Can the answer to this dilemma be that the local church, as represented by our dated systems and strong divided denominational boundaries, be a hindrance to the advancement of the Gospel?

Let's don't spaz out here? Certainly we affirm that (1) the church belongs to Christ, (2) he promised to build his church, (3) he is the Head of the church, and (4) all things exist in him and for him. What is more, Scripture promises that even the gates of you know where cannot prevail over Christ's church. So, what is the deal here? Is Christ's church a failure? Is Christ's power and will for the church, through which the manifold wisdom of God is made known to the world, diminished by the times?

Well, no. There's no problem with his church. It is divinely instituted, constructed on the sure and firm foundation of Christ the Lord, and is the central mechanism for fulfilling Christ's Kingdom mission in this dark and lost world. So, analyzing church numbers and trends can't find fault in the plan of Christ or the church he dreamed. The problem must be that the modern depiction of the church has departed from the New Testament paradigm.  The death of the church culture is not the death of the church. Christ's church is inviolable. The church us humans invented is the one in retreat. We've strangled the church in an organizational hierarchy and smothered the embers of evangelism and missions in our buildings, budgets, by-laws, business, and bulletins. 

Around the world the Gospel has ignited fires of awakening in cultures that are not bound by the trappings of the institutional church. They're free of the labels, biases, traditions, and structures that so inhibit spiritual movement. On several church planting missions is these non-traditional church nations, the people discovered a level of service, fellowship, and authenticity before they owned buildings or became a part of an organized, hierarchical body.

So, what's the solution? Let's go to the edge again. Hebrews 12:1 advises,"...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us". Everything that hinders covers a lot of ground. Usually we leap to the conclusion that this is basically sinful things, thing that spiritually keep us from "running the race".  Consider this: Could this descriptive refer to the baggage we've added to the New Testament model, what we discover in Acts and the Epistles? Is it now time to discard all the road blocks to advancing the Kingdom?

The church? The city of God. The people of God. The family of God. The Body of Christ.The redemptive commumnity. The fellowship of saints. 

Has anybody ever thought of the modern church as hindrance? Will I be burned at the stake for even thinking such a thing?

We have spent 21 days praying together, focusing on the book of John, fasting and petitioning God on behalf of our church. And on Sunday evening, we heard some testimonies of individuals who felt God speak to them during those days. Perhaps you learned something too! Want to share with us?

I'll start: 

Reading through the book of John - written by one of Jesus's best friends, what an intimate perspective! - all consecutively and somewhat quickly was great for me! This was probably the first time I'd really studied it all together without bouncing back and forth between other gospel accounts. 

Less than two weeks into my reading, I received (by email) a passage from a book that really shook me up. I'll share a part of it here. 

From Tempted and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph of Christ by Russell Moore (Crossway, 2011):

Part of the curse Jesus would bear for us on Golgotha was the taunting and testing by God’s enemies. As he drowned in his own blood, the spectators yelled words quite similar to those of Satan in the desert: “Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe” (Mark 15:32). But he didn’t jump down. He didn’t ascend to the skies. He just writhed there. And, after it all, the bloated corpse of Jesus hit the ground as he was pulled off the stake, spattering warm blood and water on the faces of the crowd.

That night the religious leaders probably read Deuteronomy 21 to their families, warning them about the curse of God on those who are “hanged on a tree.” Fathers probably told their sons, “Watch out that you don’t ever wind up like him.” ...

This passage absolutely devastated me. I wept for those religious leaders, so physically close to Jesus but so blind! The fact that, in their focus on religion and maintaining the status quo, they had missed Jesus! For those of us who eagerly await a time when we can sit at Jesus' feet to worship him, and see him face to face ... this is an atrocity! 

But these were 'good' people - strong leaders in their families, leaders of the church (temple). They read the Law to their families. They defended their beliefs. But they were misguided, fallen individuals who - as a group - failed to embrace the Messiah because he didn't look enough like their 'god' to be the true Messiah.

This image stuck with me throughout the rest of my reading of the Gospel of John. And it changed my prayers from "God help those who are misguided!" to "God, help me -- help our church -- to cling to Jesus much more than we do our methodologies." In my own power, I can be a 'good' person - in the same way the Pharisees were 'good'. But 'good' didn't cut it then, and it's not cutting it now! 

So, unlike the idea of the fathers who told their sons "Watch that you don't ever wind up like him," my final thought is, "Watch (be intentional) that you are becoming more like him." 

- Rita Polk, Church Secretary

1. Before you read:
     a. What does Jesus charge Peter with doing for his sheep?
     b. What type of death does Jesus predict that Peter will endure?

2. DAILY BIBLE READING: Read John 21:1-25

3. Why were the disciples fishing? Why weren’t they witnessing to others?

4. When we are not feeling Jesus’ presence in our lives as strongly as we do at other times, what is it easy to do?

5. What is Jesus doing by asking Peter three times if Peter loves Jesus?

6. Why is it significant that Jesus asked Peter three times? Explain your answer.

7. What is God saying to you?

1. Before you read:
     a. What happens on the day after the Sabbath?
     b. How does Jesus reveal himself to the disciples?


2. DAILY BIBLE READING: Read John 20:1-31

3. Why is it crucial that Christians believe that the tomb was empty?

4. Why does Jesus visit the disciples in the room that was locked?

5. Reread verses 21-23. Using your own words, explain what happened.

6. Why does John give this testimony?
  
7. What is God saying to you?

1. Before you read:
     a. Does Pilate want to crucify Jesus?
     b. What is done to Jesus’ body before his death?

2. DAILY BIBLE READING: Read John 19:1-42

3. Why do the Jewish leaders continuously request that Pilate agree to crucify Jesus? Why doesn’t Jesus defend himself to Pilate?

4. Why is Mary, Jesus’ mother, given over to John for her care and protection?

5. What is done to Jesus while on the cross?

6. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus take care of Jesus after his death. What is significant about this team and their preparations?

7. What is God saying to you?