PSC Blog # 2- The Process

Dominique   -   June 3, 2024

Dear Church,

In our first Blog we highlighted our motto, “God’s Man, God’s Time, No Exceptions” and asked you to commit to praying daily for a number of items. For those of you who have committed to pray, thank you very much! One of our requests was that we focus on being unified as a body of believers through this process; what better way than to be united in prayer as we seek the man God has identified as our next pastor. As we prayed during our PSC meeting this past Sunday (thanks to those members who joined us), we prayed with eager anticipation of what God has planned for First Baptist Church Burkburnett, we excitedly prayed about what the Holy Spirit is doing, and will continue to do, during this time of transition, and we rejoiced at the unity witnessed with thus far. We’re truly blessed to be able to call the people of First Burk family; our brothers and sisters in Christ.

In this second Blog, we hope to provide a little clarity pertaining to the process that we’re going through as a PSC. Over the next couple of weeks, we will be going through the process of developing three profiles (described below): Church Profile, Community Profile and Pastor Profile. The benefit of having done this just a short time ago is that it affords us the opportunity to fine tune these profiles as opposed to creating them from scratch; while being ever mindful not to “speed” through the process.

Church Profile – This answers the question, “Who are we?”. The committee will be collecting statistics and demographics on the church (both current and historic) that will be shaped into a narrative profile to eventually be attached to our job posting. This will be an opportunity to tell potential candidates who we were, who we are and who we hope to become.

Community Profile – This answers the question, “Who are they?”. This profile will highlight the characteristics of our local community (our Jerusalem – Acts 1:8). It will answer several key questions (demographics, median age range, unchurched and unsaved statistics, etc…), and will be an opportunity to tell prospective candidates about the great potential that exists within our community.

Pastor Profile – This answers the question, “Who is he?”. In this profile, we prayerfully discern the characteristics the PSC will be looking for in our next pastor. This will not be a rigid set of criteria; rather, it will be a set of general characteristics of the man who God would have lead our congregation. The PSC is in the process of developing a congregational survey that will be sent out to the church to help form this profile. Additionally, we intend to conduct “listening sessions” (most likely during our Life Groups) that will afford everyone the opportunity to answer a series of questions in narrative form.  As you prayerfully consider your responses to these questions, we would like to take the opportunity to point you to the following passages that outline the qualifications for a Pastor (overseer): 1 Timothy 3:1-3 & Titus 1:5-9.

Through developing these profiles, we gain a more thorough understanding of who we are (as a Church and Community) and what we’re looking for in a Pastor. As we progress through this methodically, constantly seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit, we lay the foundation for finding God’s Man, in God’s Time, No Exceptions. Anything less is simply unacceptable.

We’ll close this entry with two requests: for patience and prayer.

Patience: As we go through this process, it’s completely understandable for the congregation to want to know every detail of the process as it unfolds. However, at times PSC members will not be able to disclose specifics (especially as it relates to candidates). As highlighted in our PSC training, a breach of confidentiality with potential Senior Pastor candidates can have devastating consequences on their current ministries, and we most certainly do not want to be responsible for unintentionally harming a candidate’s ability to lead in their current position. As such, we simply ask for your trust and patience in those situations.

Prayer: Here are specific items to pray for:

  1. That we select God’s Man, in God’s Time, No Exceptions.
  2. That we remain unified as a body of believers.
  3. That our personal desires or preferences give way to God’s plan.
  4. For the PSC individually and collectively
  5. For the man God is preparing to become our next pastor.
  6. That our church is ready for the man God is preparing.
  7. That God will grant the PSC wisdom and discernment as we seek His will.

In Him,
Pastor Search Committee

Tony Dimarzio            Fran Potts                    Jan Holtzen                 Rusty Midgett

Anita Owen                Mike Harpole              Danny Taylor              Jimmy Beeson