Elder Monthly Update

Dear Faith Community Church,

 Your Board of Elders desires to inform you of our recent activities and request your prayer for us as we collectively pursue our Spirit-led mission of making more and better disciples of Jesus Christ. Below is a summary of our March activities. If you desire to learn more about a given subject, please don’t hesitate to contact a pastor or elder. Thank you for your interest and desire as we seek to help thousands more experience Jesus in a gospel-inspired life.

 March 12, 2024 Regular Elder Meeting: 

 Updates

• A second Marriage Class, following a successful pilot during the past six months, will occur in April.
• One of our Missional Communities will be taking a mission trip to Mexico in April.
• FCC’s ‘Next Steps’ table will be relocated from the North exit to the main lobby and will be staffed by our Campus Pastor.
• A formal offer has been extended to a candidate for Campus Pastor.
• An update on efforts to fill openings in Next Generation Ministry was provided. Several interviews are underway.
• The Elders were briefed on a new initiative to discern how to best care for the wives of our pastors.
• The Elders were updated on the Employee Health Plan matter (please see the Feb. 11 elder meeting notes for further details). Incremental steps forward have been made.

 Topics:

 Prayer:  The Elders discussed various needs and situations and spent time in prayer for our church.

 Childcare Protection Policy Breach Follow-Up: As noted in our February 25 meeting notes, (please refer there for further details) FCC experienced a breach in their childcare protection policy. (The church is not aware of any criminal activities and a police investigation (completed after this meeting) concluded that no wrongdoing has occurred). The Elders reviewed, discussed, and supported current efforts to review the incident and work toward improving various aspects of our Next Generation Ministry accordingly. A review team comprising both Next Generation staff and others has been commissioned for this effort. The Elders will continue regular follow-up on the topic. 

 Design and Build Project Capital Expenditure Authorization: As discussed in our Feb. 11 meeting notes, a final ‘Phase I design proposal’ was reviewed and affirmed. (Please refer to those notes for details.) The Elders were also shown the potential debt service costs associated with the design. Analysis shows it falls within the earlier approved budget guidelines for the project. A final review of the project proposal and its costs was discussed at this meeting and a formal authorization of a proposed capital expenditure was approved. (Membership also needs to approve any such capital cost!) This approved figure will be included in our planned capital campaign efforts. The final spending and potential debt will depend upon final detailed design plans (which are not yet set), the results of the capital campaign, and the exact nature of any loan.

 FCC Pastor Sabbatical Policy Approval:  The Elders reviewed, discussed, and subsequently approved a detailed revision to our current Pastor Sabbatical Policy. 

 FCC Balance Sheet Cash Management Recommendation:  FCC’s cash management sub-team recommended that the proceeds from our soon-to-mature US Treasury bills (USTs) be invested in a money market security. Flexibility for upcoming capital spending projects is preferred compared to the small difference between short-term USTs and money markets. The Elders approved the recommendation.

 Theology Position Paper – Roles Responsibilities and Authority Structure in the Local Church:  The Elders began work on this subject in 2023 but subsequently put it on hold because of the high workload of other activities. An update was last provided in our Jan. 23 Elder meeting notes. Those interested in various details are encouraged to look there and at our earlier Elder meeting notes. At this meeting, the Elders largely finished a review of the entirety of the proposed content – excluding the subject of deacons and deaconesses. Suggested inputs will require some of the earlier aspects of the draft to be revised. A sub-group will work on the continued editing. Further discussion is planned for our next meeting.

 March 26, 2024 Regular Elder Meeting: 

 Updates

• At least two of our Missional Communities are in the process of multiplying. Updates were provided.
• “How to Care Like Christ,” a pilot class designed to develop a culture of care, at FCC was recently completed and great results were reported.
• The police investigation into our Child Protection Policy breach has been completed and concluded that there was no criminal activity. As noted in recent Elder reports, the Elders are thankful for this outcome and continue following up on improvements to our Next Generation Ministry processes to assure child safety.
• Our Women’s Ministry reports that several leaders are planning to step down for various reasons. Latte and Thrive will likely be dormant in the coming year.
• The offer we extended to a new Campus Pastor was formally accepted. Communication to our body will occur soon. A June 1^st start date is being targeted.
• The Elders approved a pastor housing allowance resolution.
• Interviews for open positions in our Next Generation Ministry continue.  An update was provided.
• Our recently hired Executive Pastor will arrive the first week of April and will be temporarily residing in our transitional housing resource.

 Topics:

 Prayer: The Elders discussed various needs and situations and spent time in prayer for our church.

 Sense of the Elders — Theological Questions related to Campus Planting: Earlier discussions of planting a new Faith Community church campus raised questions about the theological nature of muti-campus churches. If FCC chooses to plant a campus church, would the nature of our ‘church assembly’ be negatively impacted from a biblical perspective? In response to this question, a number of perspectives were presented, contemplated and discussed. In summary, assuming appropriate care is taken (as is planned), no theological issues that would prevent this approach to church planting were identified. Therefore, the sense of the Elders is that they remain comfortable with exploring campus planting.

 Theology Position Paper – Roles Responsibilities and Authority Structure in the Local Church:  The discussion of this topic, as noted above, was continued. The revisions made after the last meeting were reviewed. Unity on an important topic has yet to be found. Further discussions are planned.

  How you can pray us:

• For God’s grace, healing, and presence for the Prince family.
• For Dan Clancy, his family, and his health as he continues to lead our next generation ministry while battling cancer.
• For the two new pastors that FCC has recently hired — that by God’s grace and wisdom they’ll be enabled to quickly and effectively begin their ministry at FCC.
• For the family of our new Executive Pastor as he begins his work in Hudson and his family completes their school year in Arizona in his absence.
• For God’s guidance and wisdom as the Elders and staff begin filling important positions in our Next Generation Ministry.
• For God’s wisdom and guidance as we begin implementing plans to accommodate and enhance the growth that FCC has been experiencing – specifically our efforts to design a facility that will meet our needs and budget target.
• For God’s guidance and wisdom as we contemplate how to best shepherd, via a diaconate structure, those who call FCC home. We earnestly desire to do this well while being a church of our size.
• For God’s guidance and wisdom as we discern how to best develop a leadership and discipleship initiative to meet the needs of FCC.
• In thankfulness to God for his continued and faithful provisions to FCC and his work in drawing many more in joining with us.
• For the unity of our body, as we experience many changes, our present growth is bringing about.
• For God’s wisdom, guidance, and unity for the elder board in many matters of importance, including our continued discussions concerning roles, responsibilities, and authority within the local church and how it applies to our context at FCC.
• For God’s wisdom and guidance as FCC contemplates what church planting via a campus planting model means in practice.
• For God’s grace and blessings upon our church and wisdom for our leaders – especially as we deal with a complex employee health plan matter.
• For our staff and volunteers as they work diligently to faithfully serve the increasing number of people who call FCC home.

 In Love and Peace,

 Gregg Bennett – Chairman of the Elders on behalf of your Elder Board:

 (Gregg Bennett, John Blum, Bill Brinkman, Jim Duffey, Dan Fosterling, Jon Gross, Steve Holsteen, Eric Lent, Tim Porter, Tim Prince, Pat Stream, Tim Studt, Larry Szyman and Chris Willeke)