Electing a Pulpit Fill Committee

The pulpit fill committee will be responsible for the filling of the pulpit during worship services. This committee may collect names of potential speakers and schedule them. They are authorized to compensate supply preachers at $100 per service and to pay any travel expenses incurred. This committee may also decide to recommend a man as Interim Pastor, which would be voted on by the congregation with one week’s notice.

It should be noted that the role of an Interim Pastor is not merely to preach, but to minister to the congregation, assume the roll of the pulpit fill committee in filling the puplit during services, and assisting the Pastor Search Committee in an advisory role.

How Candidates Are Processed

1. The Search Committee may solicit recommendations of potential Pastors from within and outside of the congregation, and they may also solicit resumes via the church website, BMAA papers, and other news outlets.

2. Resumes may be evaluated and acted upon immediately. Sometimes quality candidates may have only a short period of availability. Resumes will be screened by the committee in absolute confidence.

3. If the Search Committee feels led together to contact a particular candidate, they should appoint one member of the committee to contact that candidate to arrange a meeting. If they are already highly and unanimously confident in the candidate, he may be invited for a weekend that would include a committee interview, informal meetings (not interviews) with the staff, and preaching to the congregation during a worship service.

4. At no point should the staff officially interview the man who may be their next Pastor, and at no point should the entire congregation interview a Pastor. All screening is the responsibility of the pulpit committee.

5. Before a candidate may be presented to the congregation for a vote, the following criteria must be met:
i. A resume must be in the possession of the committee.
ii. Verification of the candidate’s ordination or lack thereof must be satisfied.
iii. The committee must feel unanimously that this candidate could very well be the next Pastor God has in mind for the church.
iv. References should be contacted.
v. A salary package should be discussed by the Pulpit Committee (discussed later) and agreed upon with the candidate.

6. When all of this screening process has been completed and the Search Committee is in full agreement to present the candidate to the church, the candidate should be invited to preach “in view of a call.” One week before the candidate arrives for his appointment, the congregation should receive a written report (one page or so) from the pulpit committee about their findings, a copy of the candidate’s resume, and the detailed salary package and agreement.

7. Unless the church decides otherwise, they will vote on a candidate the very Sunday evening he preaches. At this point, the candidate most likely feels it is God’s will to come, and the Search Committee feels it is God’s man for the position. An 80% “yes” vote is required to call a candidate as Pastor.

*** NO CANDIDATE SHOULD EVER BE INVITED TO PREACH IN VIEW OF A CALL WHOM THE SEARCH COMMITTEE CANNOT WHOLEHEARTEDLY RECOMMEND AS PASTOR.

*** THE COMMITTEE WILL NEVER PRESENT MORE THAN ONE CANDIDATE AT A TIME AS THE POTENTIAL NEXT PASTOR TO BE HEARD IN VIEW OF A CALL.

More updates will follow as the Search Committee reports regularly with the congregation. Please pray for the Deacons as they carry out this enormous task under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

During his tenure at Bethel, he preached through over a dozen books of the Bible as the church added many new families and added multiple staff. He will continue writing at Life Here and There. You can stay in touch with Brandon via email.

More will be posted concerning Bethel’s pastoral search process very soon. Please pray for Pastor Brandon and his family as they make this move across the country to a new field of ministry.

One of the values we hold dear at Bethel is the precious value of the local church to the lives of Christian believers. Last night I had the opportunity to share with a sister church (First Baptist Church in Garfield, Arkansas) about this subject as part of their annual Bible Conference, Encourage University. The entire week focused on the local church and I was privileged to speak about the church’s holiness.

I grew up in a small and very traditional church in south central Kentucky. It wasn’t perfect. I could share stories that would make us laugh and others that could bring us to tears, but in that church I watched godly men lead. My memory of them motivates me even now to remain faithful to God. It was there that I heard the gospel that made an eternal difference in my life. It was there, even as a kid, that I first thought about preaching someday.

So the local church, with all of its imperfections, is precious. Bill Hybels said this about it…

There is nothing like the local church when it’s working right. Its beauty is indescribable. Its power is breathtaking. Its potential is unlimited. It comforts the grieving and heals the broken… It builds bridges to seekers and offers truth to the confused. It provides resources for those in need and opens its arms to the forgotten, the downtrodden, and the disillusioned… Whatever the capacity for human suffering, the church has a greater capacity for healing and wholeness… the radical message of transforming love has been given to the church.
~ Bill Hybels, Courageous Leadership

In Browning, Kentucky, where I grew up, there was a store, a fire station, and several churches. There are places in the world today where you won’t find a post office or grocery store, but you’ll find a church or three. This is of God.

We Need the Local Church as a Place to Belong

God wants you to be a part of His family, and if you’re a part of His family, He wants you to be a part of a local church family. In fact, a believer without a church family is like an orphan. All believers will live forever with Jesus as family. Church is the practice run where we learn to relate to people who are often very different than ourselves.

We Need the Local Church as a Place to Grow

God intended not only that we be students of Jesus through His Word, but that we do this in the context of a community of believers. Whether small groups or Sunday School, every believer needs a group of fellow disciples with whom to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We Need the Local Church as a Place to Serve

The Great Commission is our task, and the local church is the institution Jesus started to accomplish this task. I don’t know about you, but I love the fact that God has invited me, a sinner, to take part in extending the message of His holiness, love, and grace to the furthest reaches of the planet. I can’t do that alone – I need to join hands with fellow church members.

Jesus died for the church. He derives glory when the church functions according to His plan and pattern. God never intended for you to be a lone ranger believer. He wants you in a local church family, committed and serving.

The church has its faults. It’s made up of a diversity of human beings made of flesh. It’s tough sometimes. But when all is working right, there’s nothing like the local church!

photo source

A ordination is our way of simply recognizing and affirming God’s call on someone’s life to ministry. It consists of ordained men (both Deacons and Pastors) gathering to “approve” a young man for the task of ministry by questioning him, then laying hands on him and praying over his life and ministry as well as preaching a charge to him and to the listening congregation.

Justin has been serving at Bethel as Youth Pastor for about a year and a half now. We’re honored to have him and his zeal at work for our ministry!