An Update From the NP Leadership Team
An Update From the NP Leadership Team
By Mark Kiker
Elder Chair
Hello Church Family,
The Northpoint Leadership Team has been meeting with a focus on planning and progress on several items. We are making good strides forward and want to quickly update you on several areas. We have divided up the leadership team’s workload into subcommittees that will work together to frame the questions and propose solutions back to the entire team. The whole team will make the final decisions, but by having smaller groups clarify specific areas, we can advance our processes in many areas at one time.
Pastor Search – We have vetted several outside ministry partners and will be selecting one soon. These partners will help us navigate the entire process of searching for our next lead pastor. We gathered recommendations from our denomination, past relationships, and referrals. We have a conference call with one of the finalists on April 8. Once we have a partner in place, we can begin defining the series of steps needed to find the man God is preparing.
In general, we will follow these steps:
– Create: Hire a ministry partner and form a search team. The ministry partner and the elders will develop a church profile (who we are) and pastor profile (who we are looking for), and various application forms and processes. Those products will provide the search team with a framework to eventually vet candidates.
– Seek: Gather referrals, recommendations, and resumes with an initial screening application from possible candidates.
– Discern: Narrow field to a select group. Candidates will be offered a more focused application, then after review, may meet with our ministry partner and do search team interviews. We may have a team visit candidates at their present location and then engage them in deeper interviews with the elders.
– Call: We then select a single, final candidate for a Candidate Weekend. The congregation will have opportunities to interact, and then the elders will offer the name for affirmation by our members.
We have a long way to go, and we are encouraging you to pray for our process and our next pastor.
Elder Expansion – You will soon be asked to affirm a search committee for vetting prospective elders. This group will assist the elder team in finding elder candidates. A vote will be taken on a Sunday via paper ballot for our membership to define this committee. These folks will gather names, do some preliminary vetting, and create a pool of candidates. The candidates will then go through an “elder in training” process for training, vetting, and possible addition to the team.
Choral Music – As discussed at the Town Hall meeting a few weeks ago, an elder subcommittee is proactively working on this area to free up the entire elder team to focus on the pastor search and elder expansion.
Deacons/Deaconess – We are looking into identifying men and women who can serve in areas of oversight and assistance to the elders. This would also free up time for the elders to steer the other efforts with greater vigor.
Mission, Vision, and Values – We will review our existing documents in light of their contribution to the pastor search conversation with candidates. We may add clarification as needed to reflect our perspectives on the future.
Constitution – We have gotten feedback from trusted denominational leadership that our constitution might be in need of review. It was written when the church was much smaller and may not reflect the structure needed to guide a congregation our size. Any changes would be brought to the members for review and approval.
Discipleship – We need to increase our focus on disciple-making: reaching, teaching, and sending. We have many areas where we are impacting our multiplication of disciples, but desire to expand our efforts to “present everyone mature in Christ.” – Colossians 1:28 ESV
Finances – We are stable, but have declined a bit. We are roughly $8,000 below last year’s total giving fiscal year-to-date and about $60,000 under our budgeted needs for the year. The austerity of our staff has made that drop manageable, plus we have consistent cash flow and an increasing bank balance since August when our fiscal year started. We encourage all of you to give as you have been blessed and to continue to be faithful as God calls his children to be generous in their giving for the sake of his Kingdom.
As we see God’s will unfolding before us, continue to pray for his wisdom and guidance in all things, and be prayerful about the financial area as we seek to be good shepherds of his provisions.
In Him,
Mark Kiker
Elder Chair