To: the FBCF Church Family

From: Pastor Bill & Pastor Drew

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Hi Folks!  We wanted to take a minute to update you on the results of last night’s Business Meeting and give you a reminder about this coming Sunday’s events.

First, it was wonderful to see so much interest and support last night.  We, as usual, met in the Choir Room.  There was such a great turnout that we actually had to go to the choir seating and pull some more chairs in for the meeting!  Here is a rundown of what was covered…

– Our various ministries are going strong and having a great impact.

– We are already about $30,000 in the black for the year, something we have not seen since I (Bill) have been at the church.

– We approved spending up to $110,000 for a “makeover” before we begin to focus on “Phase 2,” which will include a gym, new kitchen, etc.  The “makeover” will include new flooring, new paint, and some decorating in the auditorium as well as surrounding hallways and foyer and Welcome Center.  This also includes moving the Sound Booth to the back of the main floor for better control over our sound.  We currently have about $70,000 in hand.  All of this Sunday’s Anniversary Offering will go towards this project.  We will finish this job as funds are available, hopefully (with your faithful giving) in the next few months.

– We also approved modifying our annual budget by adding $25,000 in order to keep our Youth Pastor position fulltime after Pastor Scott retires.  The funding for this position will come from four sources…

          * The funds we already budgeted for this position to be parttime.

* Adam & Kara have done a tremendous job with our children’s ministry.  (It was noted last night that they began with 6-7 kids on Wednesday nights, and they recently had a high of 44 kids in AWANA!!!)  Anyway, due to raising Emmy, building a house, etc., they are going to continue to oversee AWANA but are going to step away from the activities and from KidsKlub on Sunday mornings.  This will free up part of their salary.

* We (Bill & Drew) will soon be 50%-50% with the preaching.  I (Pastor Bill) am going to scale back a bit and begin to take a day off on the weeks that I do not preach.  This will begin in June.  That will be a 10% reduction in my time, and I will be taking a 10% reduction in my salary.  These funds will also be available.

* When you add up the three sources above, we needed $25,000 to fund a fulltime position with benefits.  Again, this was approved, so we are now busy trying to find that individual.  We are renaming this position Next Generation Pastor, and they will be responsible for youth and children.  Among their responsibilities will be Youth on Wednesday night and Sunday School, and KidsKlub on Sunday mornings, and activities for both age groups.  This decision was born out of the church family’s input from our Vision Night.  Many expressed a desire that we continue to have a strong focus on the next generation of our church family.

Finally, we sure hope you can join us for this Sunday’s service and the celebration of our 100^th Anniversary!  It will be a unique service as we look back and thank God for His faithfulness.  Please bring dishes and desserts for a churchwide lunch after the service.  Also, we are beginning a new 10-week series in Sunday School on the attributes of God.  We sure hope you will get in on the first of these lessons this Sunday at 9:00 a.m.  If you have not been in a class, just come to Welcome Center and we will get you (and your kids) to the right rooms.

We discussed this morning how grateful we are that we have such a loving and unified church family where we could approve all that we did last night without one hint of conflict, disunity or frustration.  That, unfortunately, is a rare thing in many churches.  Thank you for your tremendous support in helping our church be and do what we trust will honor the Lord.

See ya Sunday, Lord willing!

In Him,

Pastor Bill & Pastor Drew