This week we will continue in Romans 15, as we talk about “Gospel Priorities” from Romans 15:22-33. 

As I mentioned from the pulpit last week, we are very blessed to have Luke Willette leading our congregational singing. God has gifted Luke with extraordinary musical talents, along with a humble, gentle, and loving heart. I also mentioned that Miguel Yustiz will be working with Luke, giving leadership to our choir. Miguel has a degree in music, along with a warm, pastoral heart, and he will be a great encouragement to our worship team. 

This has obviously been a time of transition for our worship ministry. When Michael was called to Philadelphia, we immediately began the process of searching for a replacement. Along the way, we began to glean lots of new insights. One of the biggest things we learned was that many churches – even ones much larger than ours - are no longer utilizing a full-time worship pastor. These churches have flourishing music ministries, but they are utilizing volunteer teams and part-time staff members. 

As we considered that possibility, we also prayed very deeply about the needs of our church. We have a wonderful church, filled with loving people. David, Wilson, and I see God’s hand in bringing the three of us together as a pastoral team. We love one another and love you. As we prayed together and looked honestly at the needs of our church, and worked with our Personnel Committee, we determined that what our pastoral team most needs at this time is an associate pastor who can concentrate full-time on making disciples. 

We are living in a rapidly secularizing culture – one in which people are dropping out of church in droves. Research indicates that 59% of American millennials (age 22-35) who were raised in church have dropped out. The ramifications of this for churches are obvious. 

We must think about the future of our own church. So many of our faithful members are going home to be with the Lord. These faithful brothers and sisters must be replaced by a new generation of disciples, or our church will eventually die. 

Therefore our pastors brought forth a proposal to search for an Associate Pastor of Discipleship, who will devote full-time energy to helping us reach new people for Christ, assimilate them into active church membership, and disciple them to be reproducing disciples. 

This proposal has the unanimous support of our pastors, Personnel Committee, and deacons. We believe we can have God-glorifying, powerful, blended worship without a full-time worship pastor. We also believe that our church desperately needs another pastor who can devote full-time focus to helping us make new disciples. 

This will allow David to focus on Administration and Missions. This plan is consistent with our mission, “to glorify Christ by making disciples who make disciples, in our community and around the world.” It will help us do far more than we are currently doing to reach people locally and globally for Christ. Ultimately, that is all that matters.  

We believe the best days are yet to come for FBC. As your pastors, we love you. If you ever have questions about anything, know that you can come to us. May God bless us as we move forward for His glory!   

By His Grace, For His Glory, To The Nations, 

Dr. Thurman Hayes, Jr.