Pastoral Search Committee Update
The following is the Pastoral Search Committee Update given to the congregation on May 11, 2025
Your Pastoral Search Committee has been praying and working, and has reviewed a number of applications. Some have been determined not to be a good fit, and others are being reviewed further. We greatly appreciate the prayer support you provide as a congregation, especially during the prayer times on Sunday mornings from 9:35 to 9:55.
As we go through this process, we as a congregation are waiting on the Lord’s timing in providing our new pastor. However, I want to encourage you that we are not standing still during this period, because God calls us to continually grow in Him and move forward in faith. Matthew 11:12 shows that the Kingdom of God moves forward in all circumstances, as does Acts, chapter 8, which Pastor Rick recently preached. As a result, I would like to dispel a common misconception that some of you may have heard or believed. It is a common thought when a church is going through the process of seeking a new pastor.
The misconception is that the stability you desire to see or the change you feel we need will not happen until the new pastor arrives. Or that we won’t know what the church will be like in the coming years until the new pastor arrives. This is not true. Our leadership shapes the direction of the church. The elders, the deacons, and the women’s leadership team are responsible for leading this congregation. The kingdom of God must always be advancing. We don’t cease to be the church during the transition, and the Great Commission is just as applicable during the transition as it is when we have a Senior Pastor. Note that when Pastor Rick recently preached from Acts 8 on the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles, it was not the pastors who went forth spreading the word, but the people of the church.
We recently affirmed the vision for the next few years as outlined by our Envisioning Team, and now have a strategic planning team working on determining what the Lord would have us do to implement that vision. When they present the strategic plan, we will actively move forward on that plan. If we are doing what the Church should be doing, our new pastor will come alongside ministries that are already in operation, rather than us waiting on him to start them.
Our leadership is charged by God to lead us in the vision He has given us, and to equip the saints to do the work of the church, so that we will be strong and vibrant when the new pastor arrives. We should not wait for him, we should not suspend activities, giving, service, or any other part of the life of the church during this transition. The Bride of Christ must be preparing for her Bridegroom, whether the man in the pulpit is our permanent pastor or our interim pastor. So, as you pray for the pastoral search committee, pray also for our church, that we would be so involved in the kingdom work God has for us that the new pastor will have to run to catch up.
So as we await the arrival of our next senior pastor, let’s “...walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which [we] have been called.” (Ephesians 4:1) This means we continue being equipped for the work of the gospel and take the gospel to our community with a passion to see the kingdom of God established in Flowery Branch and beyond. We should be generous with our prayers, our pocketbooks, and our participation, so that Christ will be exalted and His bride will be prepared not just for the arrival of our senior pastor, but for the glorious return of Christ.
Ruling Elder David White
On behalf of the Pastoral Search Committee
Your Pastoral Search Committee has been praying and working, and has reviewed a number of applications. Some have been determined not to be a good fit, and others are being reviewed further. We greatly appreciate the prayer support you provide as a congregation, especially during the prayer times on Sunday mornings from 9:35 to 9:55.
As we go through this process, we as a congregation are waiting on the Lord’s timing in providing our new pastor. However, I want to encourage you that we are not standing still during this period, because God calls us to continually grow in Him and move forward in faith. Matthew 11:12 shows that the Kingdom of God moves forward in all circumstances, as does Acts, chapter 8, which Pastor Rick recently preached. As a result, I would like to dispel a common misconception that some of you may have heard or believed. It is a common thought when a church is going through the process of seeking a new pastor.
The misconception is that the stability you desire to see or the change you feel we need will not happen until the new pastor arrives. Or that we won’t know what the church will be like in the coming years until the new pastor arrives. This is not true. Our leadership shapes the direction of the church. The elders, the deacons, and the women’s leadership team are responsible for leading this congregation. The kingdom of God must always be advancing. We don’t cease to be the church during the transition, and the Great Commission is just as applicable during the transition as it is when we have a Senior Pastor. Note that when Pastor Rick recently preached from Acts 8 on the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles, it was not the pastors who went forth spreading the word, but the people of the church.
We recently affirmed the vision for the next few years as outlined by our Envisioning Team, and now have a strategic planning team working on determining what the Lord would have us do to implement that vision. When they present the strategic plan, we will actively move forward on that plan. If we are doing what the Church should be doing, our new pastor will come alongside ministries that are already in operation, rather than us waiting on him to start them.
Our leadership is charged by God to lead us in the vision He has given us, and to equip the saints to do the work of the church, so that we will be strong and vibrant when the new pastor arrives. We should not wait for him, we should not suspend activities, giving, service, or any other part of the life of the church during this transition. The Bride of Christ must be preparing for her Bridegroom, whether the man in the pulpit is our permanent pastor or our interim pastor. So, as you pray for the pastoral search committee, pray also for our church, that we would be so involved in the kingdom work God has for us that the new pastor will have to run to catch up.
So as we await the arrival of our next senior pastor, let’s “...walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which [we] have been called.” (Ephesians 4:1) This means we continue being equipped for the work of the gospel and take the gospel to our community with a passion to see the kingdom of God established in Flowery Branch and beyond. We should be generous with our prayers, our pocketbooks, and our participation, so that Christ will be exalted and His bride will be prepared not just for the arrival of our senior pastor, but for the glorious return of Christ.
Ruling Elder David White
On behalf of the Pastoral Search Committee
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